“Dream, strive, seek, don’t give up on your goals, those who believe, always achieve.”

Have you ever stopped to think what your main goal in life is right now? And on the mats? The art of planning lies not only with the top athletes and leaders of large organizations. It also works for us, ordinary people who are in search of a goal, in search of an accomplishment. We need challenges and achievements so we can stay motivated and feel alive.

Let’s talk about goals in Jiu-Jitsu. Have you defined yours?

Achieving a black belt rank? Becoming state champion? National? Or maybe even World? Train 5 times per week?

Losing weight? Toning your body? Or simply relieving the stress of the daily grind?

Doesn’t matter what your goal is – you must pick one, visualize it and come up with a plan for its realization. Choosing, visualizing and mapping out a plan are important factors to help you to not give up , keep your focus and being successful . Research indicates that all people who have fulfilled their dreams had settled on one main goal, clearly defined and traced it in their minds.

You don’t need to decide what your main goal is straight away, it takes a while. But don’t delegate – ask yourself where you’re going and begin to make the necessary changes and take the required measures to get there.

5 Valuable Tips To Avoid Giving Up:

1. Trust yourself 
Believe in yourself. You have to go deep, deep down and ask yourself: “Where am I going? ” Remember that you are the only one that matters. You are the best person to choose your main goal in life.
Rule: Trust yourself and don’t care what other people think.

2. Maintain focus
When we pick out our main goal we must ask ourselves:’ Where do I plan to go with this?’ Many are the reasons that lead us to decide on a particular goal and we should always keep them in mind. Have vision, be strong and stay focused.
Rule: Where do I plan to get with this? Should be your daily mantra .

3. Do not be afraid to fail
We cannot always win, but do not be afraid to take risks. You cannot be paralyzed by fear of failure. If you allow this to happen you will never try hard enough. To try and continue striving you must believe in yourself and your vision and by doing so you will know which is the right thing to do.
Rule: Success will come so don’t be afraid to fail.

4. Do not listen to the pessimists
Do not listen to the negative things people will try to say to you … we hear it all the time. Take all the negativity and turn it into something positive. If you want to succeed, there is absolutely no obstacle you cannot overcome.
Rule: Don’t listen to negative people.

5. Work hard
You will never fail if you work hard enough, if you are persistent and refuse to give up. We always have something good to take from everything that happens to us. If you want to achieve something, there are no shortcuts, only hard work. There are a lot of things you can accomplish if you are persistent. Remember: You cannot climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.
Rule: Give  your best.

A person’s main objective should be chosen with great care, should be written down and placed in a place where you can see it at least once a day. This has a psychological effect on our subconscious mind so that it accepts this purpose as a motto, one project that ultimately dominates our activities in life and guides us step by step to achieve this goal.

Without having a well-defined goal, it is very difficult to accomplish something. If you don’t have a clear direction, it will be difficult to know how to get there. Remember that the next time you step on the mats at Gracie Barra.