I train at a Taekwondo club where many people are pretty driven, and intent on winning at the international competition level. Some are really good and will probably make it, others could try for years and not get there.

What I’ve noticed lately is that middle level competitors getting discouraged, and stopping competing all together, because they see that they may never get to the level they want. Or they change focus from the aspect of Taekwondo that they enjoy (like sparring), to compete in other events because they think that they are more likely to get that International medal. When you start thinking like that, I think that Taekwondo moves from being a hobby to a job. And that is fine if it’s what you want, but you probably already have a job. And doing two full-time, demanding jobs is stressful (though not impossible).

Most people when they start Taekwondo don’t think about the sport side, they are taking it up for fun or because they have an interest in martial arts, or they just want some exercise. But when you see other people going overseas and competing it’s easy to get caught up in the moment. To buy into the pushing and goal setting and training and always trying to get to that next level.

I’m not saying that chasing your goals is bad. Teaching you how to set and achieve goals is one of the things that Martial Arts does really well. But make sure that you understand what your goals really are. Is it what you really want, or are you getting caught up in someone else’s dreams?

So what are my goals? I have competed internationally. I was selected in our National team to compete in Korea one year and it was incredible, I loved every minute of it. It was completely unexpected though, and I really didn’t think that I would be competitive, so I was very unprepared and didn’t take the preparation seriously enough. And what did I find? I actually was competitive. I ended mid field, and saw that with a bit of more focussed training, I really could have been up for a medal.

So is my goal now to train harder and push for that medal? It was for a while. But then training turned into hard work, and I found myself staying later at my ‘real’ job (which I do enjoy) instead of going to training. Training wasn’t fun any more.

My real goal now is to live a life where I exercise regularly, and participate in Taekwondo because I enjoy it. I try not to focus on any particular aspect of Taekwondo, but enjoy it all. And I enter events that I like at competitions, not the ones that I think will win me medals.

If I am ever lucky enough to be selected on another team, I’m sure I’ll love it again. And I will take the preparation a lot more seriously. But I wont be there because I’ve pushed and struggled through years of hard training in search of that medal, but because through doing something that I love I’ve actually managed to get better at it! And this time I’ll know that I can be competitive, and that is a great incentive.