The End Result Approach

Next month is when many people make New Year’s resolutions that will change their lives for the better – for a few weeks anyway. Before making those resolutions, take time this month to determine what your goals are for next year, five years from now, and retirement. By looking at these goals, you will know what changes or resolutions need to be made now to give you the bright future you so desire.

How should you determine your goals? By dreaming big. If there were no obstacles in the way of you reaching your dream, like money, education, and work, what would you really like to do that would make you really happy? This is when you need to use the end-result approach. Set your final big goal and work backwards by setting smaller more manageable goals.

If your goal is to become a black belt before your next birthday, but you are a white belt now; it probably isn’t going to happen. That doesn’t mean you can’t become a black belt, it just means that you will need to rethink your timetable. Your first step would be to make an appointment with your instructor. He or she will be able to help you set reasonable goals for reaching each belt color. Once you have a time table, you can see what you need to be doing to stay on track.

As hard as it may seem, write down your weaknesses and find out what you can do to overcome or strengthen them. If you are only 5-feet tall and 90 pounds, find out how you can use your size to your advantage. Turn something you have no control over into an advantage -- you are probably faster than a larger opponent. If lack of upper-arm strength is your weakness, you can change it by adding weight training to your workouts.

You’ve heard it before, but it works; write down your goals so they will seem real to you. Share them with friends and family, too, so they can help motivate you. Most importantly, you need to know what your goal is, not what others think your goal should be. Grandma Moses was in her 70s when she began her prolific career as an artist. Her goal wasn’t to be an artist. Her goal was to enjoy a creative outlet by painting scenes from her long, rural-based life. Even if she had not become famous, she would have succeeded in reaching her goal; becoming famous was just an added bonus. Today, she is known as having been a successful artist, but even if she had never sold a painting, she would have died knowing she had achieved the goal she set before her. Would you be able to say the same thing? It’s not too late!

Goals: Something you work hard to reach.

Dear Parents,

The difference between a dream and a goal is you have to take action to turn a dream into a goal. We all have dreams of fitting into the jeans we wore in high school or running the mile as fast as we did at twenty. Those are dreams that can be goals by taking action to reach them.

This month, at LIFE 180° Martial Arts, we will be discussing with our students how to break big goals into smaller goals. Many times, we never get past the dream stage, because the dream is too big to accomplish in one sitting. However, by breaking a big goal into smaller goals, we are able to reach the big goal by taking one step at a time.

Unfortunately, in reaching for goals, we also hit obstacles. Some people see obstacles before they begin reaching for their goal, so they never progress past dreaming. By overcoming obstacles, you are able to appreciate the achievement even more. Join us this month, as we discuss what goals are and how you can reach them.

What can parents and caregivers do to help their children develop self-discipline?

Know what your children want. Sure, children want everything, but as caregivers, you are in the unique position of knowing these children well. You have the capability of determining what may be a passing fancy or what has really grabbed their attention. Encourage and help your children discover what will become their passion in life and then set goals to learn more or develop those interests.

Offer healthy rewards. We all have those horrible chores we don’t want to do; even adults face that one. Show your children how you reward yourself for doing them. Explain how you are going to take a long walk if you finish cleaning the closets.

Overcome obstacles. Depending on the age of the children, we often hide obstacles we face. Let them know certain obstacles you face and how you move past them to get what you want. You want to run in the charity 10K race, but you can’t get past 5K and you are facing overtime at work. Tell them, you plan on waking an hour earlier to get in extra running to get over the plateau you are facing.

Include everyone on taking action. If your family wants to take a special trip next year, show the kids the budget and ask how you can meet it. If you gave up eating out once a month and put that money in the savings account, you are taking action. Or you can watch a movie on DVD instead of at the theater. What else can the entire family do to help save money for a dream vacation?