Good morning.

 

The topic I wish to discuss today is that of goal-setting. Although it is rather late to be writing about this (I had indeed planned to write about this some time ago), I feel it still has some relevance. This is particularly true for the new students that have joined the school, so that they begin their new journey in the martial arts in the correct way. However, it is also pertinent to the existing students, as it is only by constantly reviewing your targets that you can see whether you are achieving them.

 

My advice here is in relation to Wing Tsun training, but the same strategy and ideas can be applied to life and goals in general. I should start, however, by saying that there are many different ways of approaching this and my way is by no means necessarily the correct one. Indeed, it is for you to find out the best way to implement your goals and wishes; I have just found that if you plan in a certain way it can mean you have a greater chance of success. This topic is almost a never-ending one, and reams of books have been written about it. I have just tried to pick out the salient points – both from my experience and other knowledge.

 

You may find it obvious, but the first thing you need to do is sit down and decide what you truly want to achieve. This is not so easy, as you have to take into account often conflicting emotions and feelings. In Wing Tsun you are looking to develop, above all else, as a person. This, therefore, also requires honesty and self-reflecting; if you want to improve on your weaknesses you must first recognise what they are.

 

This does not mean that shouldn’t aim high – in fact the very opposite. It means you need to think carefully how hard you are prepared to work and how much you are prepared to sacrifice in order to achieve this goal. To take an extreme example, if you are a beginner in Wing Tsun and you want to achieve the level of advanced grade by the end of year (certainly an ambitious aim in Chinese Wing Tsun) you need to ask yourself the following questions: are you prepared to train every day at least 6 days a week no matter what happens? Do you have the time (and money) to train at least one private a week, every week, and attend every seminar? What family commitments (and others) do you have? And are you prepared to abide by the principles of Wing Tsun? I don’t doubt this can be done (as I have had students do it) but it is extremely taxing, mentally and physically and that person’s social life will be practically non-existent. Of course, this is not a normal goal and the instructors are here to talk through with you what is required for your own individual goals and how it can be achieved taking into account your personal circumstances.

 

If you can see yourself achieving your goal in your mind it is far more likely to happen. This has also been proved countless times by scientists and specialists - just read any books on the subject of NLP alone which will tell you its importance.

 

The best and most thorough plans mean nothing if you don’t use them.

 

You must stick to your plans no matter how tired or busy you are. Research has proved that in takes about 6 week to make a routine and about 1 week to break it. More than anything else this requires both strong willpower and good organisational skills. It is not for no reason that it is said that the busiest people have the most time…

 

This is far the most important advice that I can ever give you. It is amazing how the world around you changes if you think of success in terms of ‘when’ not ‘if’. I can really tell you this as I have experienced this personally; you may think your goal was improbable (or even impossible) but if you are unswerving in your determination to succeed you almost certainly will.

 

If you haven’t already done so, now is the time that you need to set your targets for this year. I can tell you from all my experience in teaching the people that succeed in Wing Tsun, and develop the most, are those that know what they are aiming for. Next week the Si-Hings and Si-Meis will be speaking to each student individually about this, but before they do, please think about what you would like to achieve. Believe it or not the instructors and I are also human – we can only help you if you tell us what it is you want.

 

For those people who are not members and are thinking of joining the schools, it is also an excellent time to time to join as there are a number of classes specifically catering for new students (and each class at present has at least 1 instructor dedicated to this). As far as I’m aware there are still a few places left - although we did have more students join on Tuesday. If you would like more information on this please email us or call the school phone.

 

Sifu