Set your goals for 2022

Hi Everyone

Let’s plan as if we’ll get the full year back in the dojang. What do you want to achieve?

Now is the time to set your goals for 2022, and record them in your training notebook.

Start by setting your primary goal. What do you want to achieve by the end of 2022? Taekwon-Do’s belt system is a convenient tool to help you set a realistic and relevant goal.

• Do you want to grade at the end of term 1? To what grade?
• What about the end of term 2?
• Term 3?
• Term 4?

With your grading goals in place, consider the other achievements that will help you get there, and help you become a better martial artist.

• Would you like to compete in a tournament or two?
• Perhaps you aim for a gold medal in free sparring at the Regional Tournament.
• Maybe you’d like to attend a few seminars this year.
• Or you might have a social goal – to attend a camp or seminar and meet 10 people from other clubs.
• Perhaps you would like to learn to be a Taekwon-Do instructor, and you aim to progress through our Assistant Instructor Framework.

Arrange these goals in sequence, like the steps of a ladder.

Take each of these goals and identify what you need to achieve to complete each one. (For your grading goals, the syllabus book lists the techniques in which you must gain proficiency). For each of these, write a micro goal. You can set yourself small goals to achieve each week and each month.

With this detailed breakdown of your goals, you have a road map to achieve your primary goal for the year.

Remember to write your goals as clearly as possible. Make them:

• Specific – clearly state what you want to achieve.
• Measurable – write the goal in a way that you know when you achieve it, a way of measuring progress and completion.
• Achievable – make the goal challenging, but ensure it is something you can achieve.
• Relevant – ensure you want to commit to the goal, that it makes sense to you and inspires you.
• Time-related – give yourself a deadline by when to achieve the goal.

It is also essential that you review your goals regularly – weekly, or monthly at least. How are you progressing? Are you on track? If you fall behind, what do you need to do to get back on track? Alternatively, if you miss achieving a goal, or you achieve a goal earlier than expected, you may need to adjust the rest of the goals in your sequence.

Remember that it is better to aim for the stars and get to the moon, than aim for the sky and get there. Missing a goal is not failing, it is progress.

Good luck for 2022 – and use goal-setting to make your own luck!