What I find with a lot of students and with myself at times is that it is very easy to let the easy things in life get in the way.
It would be easier to sit on the couch and watch TV instead of training.
It would be easier to do these push-ups on my knees instead of toes.
It would be easier to sit down now as no one is watching and I can get away with it.
At times we all think things like this. What should make us different as martial artists is that we need to see the benefits of hard work. If we practice and practice our kicks, they get better. If we do 1000 cuts with our sword instead of 500, they get better. Hard work pays off.
We need to keep remembering this when we train. This is why I think having short term goals is so important. Getting your next belt, or your black belt are great goals but they shouldn’t be your only goal. Primarily as it’s easy to push it to the side. For example, thinking “its 2 years till I get my black belt, missing this one class won’t make any difference”. It will. Hard work now pays off later and even just the mind shift into a negative or positive frame will have long term effects.
This is where short term goals help. If you have set S.M.A.R.T short term goals, you will be thinking of this now and saying to yourself that you only have 3 months to achieve that goal, so you can’t miss that class.
A mantra I repeat a lot is that when you cheat, you only cheat yourself. This goes for training as well as exams and work. So embrace the hard work. Put in the hours now and you will get the long term benefits in multiple areas in your life, not just your martial arts training.
S.M.A.R.T goals
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time Bound
Mark Underwood
Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia
