Achieving Realistic Goals

Setting achievable goals is one of the most important pathways to success in any endeavor. However, the concept of achievable is perhaps a little vague. For a healthy 22-year-old, getting out of bed in the morning is technically setting an achievable goal for yourself, as is training to climb Mount Everest. One is achievable because it’s easy. The other is achievable because it’s possible.

Achievability as Balance

When people use the phrase “set an achievable goal,” they tend to imply a kind of balance. It’s a goal that is not immediately possible given your current capabilities, but it is something that you can accomplish with enough dedication. It demands a considerable amount of effort and sets a reasonable time limit on the person. Granted, this is somewhat vague, but it’s intentionally so because each person is different.

Achieving Progress

Achievable goals are meant to challenge you, rather than break you. Moreover, they should be considered one step in a progression towards a larger, but still achievable goal. Once you’ve accomplished the first goal, you move on to the second. Once you’ve accomplished the second, you move on to the third. All of these steps take you closer to a distant, more fulfilling goal.

For example, someone who wants to become a long-distance runner and run a marathon, but has never seriously trained and is not in particularly good shape, an achievable starting goal might be running one mile. Sure, they may struggle to go for more than a minute or two when they start training, but getting to the mile mark is a realistic goal if they press themselves for a few weeks. Eventually, they get there. Once they do, they can then set the 5k mark as their goal. Once they achieve that, they can then set another goal, which might be working up to a 10k. Even if the ultimate goal is to run a marathon, setting more reasonable or bitesize goals along the way gives them a sense of progress and accomplishment. It makes the ultimate goal seem more attainable.

For someone who has never trained jiu-jitsu but wants to be able to successfully defend themselves, the first goal may be just training two times per week for a whole month. (Yes, getting to class consistently is an achievement in itself.) Once you’ve become comfortable on the mat, you may set the goal of being able to perform the fundamental techniques of jiu-jitsu. From there, you can focus on perfecting those skills and earning your blue belt. That is a serious achievement, and it requires dedication and months, sometimes even years, of commitment. It is also just the first step in a larger journey that can last a lifetime.

Even if your ultimate goal is to become a black belt or to get to the UFC, you need to focus on the necessary and practical steps that will eventually get you there. When you aim big, you need a realistic plan and strategy to accomplish your goals.

Setting Expectations

Coach Firas Zahabi of Tristar Gym in Montreal believes that people can achieve nearly anything. Modest goals like learning a new language, learning how to defend yourself, or learning to play an instrument are within the reach of virtually anyone. With enough willpower and time, people can accomplish almost anything they put their mind to.

As Coach Firas says in the above video, even becoming a professional fighter is possible. If you start at a realistic age (someone who starts training at 45 isn’t going pro), train hard, and commit to a brutally arduous fitness regimen, you can get to that level. However, there are limitations. If you’re not genetically gifted, you’re probably not going to become a champion.

To return to the running example, virtually everyone can train hard enough to achieve goals that didn’t seem possible when they started. People who can barely climb a flight of stairs can start training slowly and eventually run a mile, and then a 5k, and then a 10k, and then a marathon. Some people may even become competitive enough to make it to the Olympics. However, winning gold at the Olympics is simply not in the cards for the vast majority of people. It takes tremendous dedication, time, effort, and luck. Not everyone gets so lucky.

Does that mean you should never start running in the first place? Of course not. You can achieve incredible things even if you are not the absolute best in the world.

The same is true with martial arts. Even if you do not become the best in the world, the most fulfilling part of learning martial arts is less about comparing yourself to the achievements of others but being able to observe personal progress and becoming the best version of yourself that you can be.