Setting Your Jiu Jitsu Resolutions

I’m not a new year’s resolution type of guy normally, but last year I set a small goal to finally deal with a small shoulder injury I was carrying for around a year by increasing my mobility in that area. I sat down and wrote out what I was going to do. Mobility and stretching before every session on the mat or in the gym for 5 minutes.

The next thing I did was check my mobility in various ways- a lying stretch to get my hand to the ground, an overhead reach, and a lateral raise.

Then, I just set the plan in motion.

6 weeks later, I went through the test of mobility again, and noticed the improvements. I had done it. My first ever New Year’s Resolution, and I was successful. More on that later.

You may have heard the term SMART when it comes to goal setting. The acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time Bound. I won’t go into all of that here, Google can take care of that for you, I’m just going to share my experience of coaching people and how the successful ones have achieved things by using something like the above.

I get so many students coming to me with great goals- compete 5 times this year, win a championship, get their next belt, lose extra weight, and so on. Not forgetting the major one, start Jiu Jitsu.

So let’s break down a few of the goals using the SMART method.

Specific

Your goal can be broad initially. Like “Start Jiu Jitsu” is a good goal. As is “ Lose bodyfat”, or “compete in Jiu Jitsu”. But a better goal might be- “Complete my first 6 weeks of Jiu Jitsu”. After all, showing up for your first session would mean your goal is complete. Likewise, “Lose 5kgs” or “compete in the Irish Open” is more specific.

Measurable

This one is easy. Remember my shoulder thing? How do I measure success if I don’t know how much I’ve improved by? A simple assessment at the beginning will give you a better idea of where you need to be, and another at the end will tell you if you got there.

Achievable

Another word for this might be “realistic”. I’m all for ambition, but sometimes you can set the bar too high. Let me tell you something I know to be a truth- Success is built in small steps. Set yourself something you know you can do. You can always set higher goals later.

Relevant

Your goal is to keep the goal, the goal. Stay on task, stay on target, and set yourself something that is in keeping with what you want to achieve. I’ve listened to one of my students say something random like “I want a 100kg bench press”, or “I’m going to start running” and wondered “and then what?” If you’re a Jiu Jitsu athlete, make your goal suitable to your aims as a Jiu Jitsu athlete!

Time Bound

Set a time at which this will be done. Put that big red mark on your calendar and know that the clock is now running. This will run in conjunction with your Measurable item. You’ll be assessing your progress on that date, so keep it in mind.

But I’d add to that- be flexible. Life throws up things. Injury, illness, work, family, and unless it’s an event happening on a specific day like a tournament, you might have to shift your goal date out a week or two.

Look, I’m not a guru, but I’ve seen success and failure when it comes to goals and I’ve seen the mistakes people make. Like for example…

That shoulder injury I told you about? Yeah, once I improved it I stopped doing my mobility work and guess what, it reared it’s ugly head once more. So I had to go back to the drawing board and set that goal again. Such is life.

See you on the mat soon,

Barry