Tips for Perserverance
On the road to achieving your ultimate goal, black belt, you may have times when self-doubt or outside pressures weaken your resolve. Especially during the colder weather, and when there are fewer daylight hours, it takes more psychological energy to stay focused on your goals. The following tips to strengthen your determination are from experts in the field.
1. Surround yourself with people who believe in you. These people can be classmates, teachers, coaches, and friends. They will supply you with feedback, emotional support, and maybe even new strategies. Their input will give you new perspectives on your goal, which will rejuvenate your resolve.
2. Enlist the support of your family. By starting out with gaining the support of your family, you will not only have them for inclusion in the “people who believe in you” group, but you will also avoid having them sabotage your success in the future. When given the opportunity to be part of your plans, your family will instinctively want to help.
3. Understand that the realization of your goals is not an overnight thing. Change is a process, not a project. Focus on your intermediate goals, objectives where you will see changes more quickly, such as mastering an individual technique. Before you know it, your bigger goals (such as changes in rank) will be achieved as well.
4. Overcome your frustration. The experts suggest reminding yourself about what you wished for when you set your goal, and about what results you hoped to achieve. What was your reason for wanting to be a black belt? What specifically do you wish to achieve?
5. Focus your goal on the positive, not the negative. This helps your psychological motivation to achieve your goal. It is much easier to stay focused when your goal is positive, such as to improve your flexibility, than it is if the goal is negative, such as “I don’t want to be less flexible than my classmates.” The reasoning behind your goal is crucial to staying focused on it.
6. Re-evaluate your goals. Don’t “set the bar too high.” Start with a small piece of the picture, an achievable goal. This allows you to enjoy each step of the process, and not become overwhelmed by looking only at the “peak of the mountain.” Pursue your goals in a gradual and fun manner.
7. Reward yourself. Treat yourself to something fun when you achieve your goal. It doesn’t have to be something expensive or fancy, just something that you will enjoy.