I figured it was easier than it is. It sounds easy, you chose a goal, you make a plan, you solicit a coach, you review your progress, your adjust your goal, and there you have it. The reality of setting a goal and working towards it every day, regardless of what else is going on in your world is huge. It is not an easy thing to do.
I'm going to tell a little story...well, it's a big story to me because it is mine. In Sept.2007, I decided that I wanted to grade for my black belt in 2008. I was a brown belt with some work to do to earn my stripes but I was confident that I could achieve my goal. I created a plan to work on my stripes and decided that I would work really hard once I became a Sihing. My wonderful family was in full support of my goal and plans. We re-arranged the chores and tasks in our household so that I would have more time for training. This has worked out really well and we manage to accomplish the tasks of daily living in a more efficient manner. I also worked very hard at my training throughout this time. I practiced my forms, worked to improve my techniques and tried to soak up as much knowledge as possible from everyone around me. I have improved in these areas but I have not reached my goal. This is not a bad thing, in fact, it is a great thing. I have re-evaluated my goal and re-structured my training plan and I am very excited about how I am going to reach my goal. Over the past ten months, I have been focused on my goal, not on my journey. I have enjoyed some of my successes but not really the journey I was on. I kept thinking that it will be great in retrospect, once I reach my goal, the journey will seem fabulous. I am ready to begin a journey that I have planned and created, not one that I think that I should be on. My new goal is to grade for my black belt and I have many exciting things to accomplish before then. I can't wait.
64 weeks until grading.
