In Martial Arts as in life in general, setting goals is a good thing to do. Keeping them in mind will make it easier for you to make informed decisions.

Watching motivational videos or reading inspirational quotes has no effect on your progress towards achieving your goals. Whatever your goals, it is very important to stick to your principles.

3 Steps To Achieve Your Goals

1. Define clear, precise and realistic objectives to ensure long-term development in order to derive the associated benefits. You can maintain a notebook in which you list the goals in order of importance. To determine the level of importance, you need to take stock of your needs and wants.
2. Prepare the way to reach the goal so that it can be broken down into stages. By setting different levels of success that are quick and easy to achieve, the goal will appear more concrete. The road will serve to lay a solid foundation for achieving the goal successfully.
3. Align behavior with the goal in order to stay on course with the initial commitment. If you don’t know what behavior to adopt, you can take inspiration from people who are in the position you want to be in. If the behaviors are too demanding, then you should re-evaluate your goals.

Behaviors are the key to success. Focus on the actions to be taken. The actions that will be carried out with a specific objective in mind will allow us to get closer to the goal to be reached. You can get closer to your goal by taking actions every day.

S.M.A.R.T objectives

• • Specific: What do you want? What purpose? When? How? ‘Or’ What? In what way? What are your limits?
  • Measurable: Put your goal in number / quantity.
  • Achievable: Are you competent in relation to your goal? Do you need to acquire new knowledge to overcome it?
  • Realistic: Will your environment allow you to reach your goal? (family, job, activity, etc.)
  • Time-Bound: What is the start date and what is the end date?

The 7 Habits of Effective People According to Stephen R. Covey

1. Be Proactive – Some people react to problems (reactive) while others anticipate or seek solutions to problems (proactive). Proactive people spend more time on things they can control.
2. Start with the Goal in Mind – Things first manifest in the mind and then in the real world. What is your mission (what you desire the most)? Determine what you are focused on (family, money, friends, yourself, etc.).
3. Prioritize Priorities – Distinguish between what is important and what is secondary. When you’ve determined what’s important, prioritize what’s urgent.
4. Think Win-Win – Making everyone a winner in a negotiation or situation.
5. Understand – Seek first to understand and then be understood. Identify the nature of a problem before finding a solution. Analyze the different perspectives.
6. Synergy – Learn and embrace other people’s ideas and see how you can build on them to move forward.
7. Renewal – Take time to educate yourself so that you can develop yourself so that you can move forward better afterwards.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: 30th Anniversary Edition