It’s the time of year when we start looking forward to the upcoming new year with hope for what’s to come. There are mixed beliefs on whether New Year’s resolutions are worth setting, but many people enjoy the process of planning what goals they’d like to achieve in the coming year.
If you are the type of person who has never failed to complete your New Year’s resolution, you’re probably already a black belt and don’t need to read this article. For the rest of us normal people, this article can help you set the right resolutions. Here’s why committing to a martial arts practice is a powerhouse New Year’s resolution.
A Solid Schedule
Martial arts practice works on a schedule. Your class commences at certain hours. That structure helps you keep your New Year’s resolution and stay on track. Why? Part of the way we all fail is by negotiating with ourselves.
It’s hard to stay committed to an exercise program—if it’s up to you, and the schedule isn’t clear, it makes it easier to generate excuses. Having a set schedule takes one more variable out of the equation that leads to self-negotiating yourself out of your resolution.
Buy Into Your Resolution
Many martial arts programs offer free trial lessons or other discounts to make starting easier. At Premier Martial Arts, we offer special intro deals to help you build momentum toward your goals. Ultimately, you must commit and put money towards your martial arts practice. Yet, the very act of paying for your practice helps most people stay focused.
The logic is simple: if you’ve paid for a membership, that’s one more way to motivate yourself when you might prefer to stay at home and watch Netflix. You paid money for the training, so wasting that money feels worse than canceling something with no loss. While many martial arts programs are affordable and even cheaper than gyms, by committing to a membership, you’re making it that much easier to fulfill your resolution.
Lean on Community
One of the best ways to succeed at your New Year’s resolution is to enlist others to help you win. When you join a martial arts studio, you’ll make friends and meet mentors and teachers who want you to succeed. When the urge to be lazy hits you—and it hits us all—there will be a network of people at the dojo who can and will motivate you.
Another great tip that uses a social support system for goal achievement is to consider making a New Year’s resolution to join a martial arts studio with a friend. You may know someone else who wants to start martial arts or is just looking for a new physical activity. Join together and agree beforehand on how you’ll hold each other accountable for staying consistent in your martial arts practice.
Get Into a Positive Feedback Loop
There’s a reason most of us fail to keep our New Year’s resolutions: they aren’t fun and they usually aren’t easy. While martial arts aren’t particularly easy, they’re definitely accessible to anyone at any level: starting is the easy part. If you talk to anyone new to martial arts, you’ll notice lots of excitement. Martial arts allows you to have fun and get fitter simultaneously, which makes it a more achievable New Year’s resolution.
Martial arts lets you see positive feedback immediately. Your body will feel stronger and healthier. Your mind will feel clear and become sharper. You’ll notice the positive feedback loop after your first session. This positive feedback is what helps you stick to your resolution.
Positive Resolutions versus Negative Resolutions
Martial arts is a “do” type of resolution, not a “don’t do” type of resolution; it’s a positive promise, not a negation. Many people create resolutions that sound like “I won’t do X this New Year.” While there’s nothing particularly wrong with negative resolutions, especially if you need to quit something, they can be more difficult to achieve.
If you frame your resolution as a positive action, you’re working towards something, not away from something. Setting your New Year’s resolution as creating a martial arts practice moves you toward something.
Health and Wellness
Health and wellness have never been more important. Joining a martial arts program is the type of resolution which can truly make a change in your life for the better. Health is the kind of focus that tends to build upon itself. Once you begin a martial arts training program, you’ll likely notice yourself eating better and sleeping better, too. Positive change makes other positive changes come easier.
Start Your Martial Arts Practice
Premier Martial Arts welcomes you to join our dojo and experience the benefits of martial arts yourself. Find a studio near you and join us to have your best and healthiest year yet. Whatever you choose for your New Year’s resolution, we hope you find success and happiness in the new year!
