Setting Goals for the New Year

The years of 2014 is now a thing of the past. As a new year starts, you know that it's common for people to set a New Year's Resolution. Among the MOST POPULAR Resolutions are: lose weight, get fit, eat healthy foods, manage stress, and volunteer to help others. What's interesting about that is, those resolutions crack the top of the charts and all of them can be accomplished/met through Jiu Jitsu.

Your overall health plays a huge factor in Jiu Jitsu. With some obvious exceptions--to physical limitations--I'd say that anyone can start training. But in order to get better, to improve, hit new levels and not plateau, your overall health needs to be improved upon and maintained as well; and that includes your mental state as well. Eating correctly, losing weight/keeping it off, eating foods that provide sustenance and energy will all go far in improving your performance. Think I'm wrong? Try eating a 1pd burger, milkshake, fries, and a slice of pie before training versus fruits, grilled/raw veggies, and water. And we all know that the physical act of Jiu Jitsu is the best stress relief ever--especially when you're performing well. Additionally, when you're doing well people will notice and it will give you the opportunity to help others. Personally, I love sharing info, teaching training partners, helping training partners learn, and all that comes with it. But that's me; everyone's Jiu Jitsu is different. Everyone has their own goals and desires for where they want to take their game and their idea of how to get it there. That's why I took to Twitter to ask some of our AWESOME Followers what their BJJ Goals for 2015 were.

It's my hope that their goals will help inspire you to adopt their goals and/or serve as an inspiration to develop your own. Also, any time you put your goals 'down on paper' in public, it helps you achieve them now because you're committed because it's 'out there.' So here's some of our friends and their 2015 BJJ Goals!

@JiuJitsuJournal : I'm looking to get promoted to the next belt in both BJJ and Judo

@XIn_AngerX: Get my purple belt and more competitions

@NicholaSzeto: Get my purple belt

@Rreuben: Get a take down in competition! Get on the podium as a blue belt!

@JSteaveMMA: Start doing more accomplished grappling tourneys and reach my purple by summer

@Sars_29: To understand it, and get my first stripe on my white belt

@LucaCarol: Getting my purple belt and dominating the tournament scene










As I think it would've been safe to assume, promotions are a huge part of this year's goals. That shouldn't come as a surprise--the idea IS to progress and get better, after all. But do your best not to get too hung up on not getting promoted. Your instructor has their reasons for when they promote. Some people advance faster than others and sometimes your instructor wants to see you improve in certain areas before you get that next stripe. Maybe you're a white belt who submits every blue belt you roll with, but you might not ever play closed guard--thus, you're not as well-rounded as you could be, or should be, and that might result in a delay in promotion. But that's a topic for another day.

Looking into 2015, there's a year of opportunity ahead. There's competitions approaching, new white belts coming into the gym, and areas all over for you to improve yourself AND your game. If you haven't made any BJJ GOALS for 2015 yet, take some time in the coming moments to consider it. Maybe jot down what you want to get better at. Even if that area doesn't directly relate to being on the mat, indirectly it's going to help. As the legendary samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, once said "once you understand the way, you see it in all things." Even the smallest improvement in your self will translate onto the mat and into your BJJ; and the improvements you make with your BJJ ultimately will improve your self.

So in the spirit of accountability, my 2015 BJJ goals are to maintain a weight loss and 'walk around' at my competition weight. Additionally: Push through when I'm tired, dedicate more time to reading (daily), continue to compete, and KEEP THIS BLOG GOING :)

So, now that that's out there, what are YOUR BJJ GOALS for 2015? Tell us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/WBSurvival or in the comments section below. Good luck to everyone this year with their goals, and THANK YOU to everyone who responded on Twitter with their goals (I really appreciate that, and you).