The Goal Setting Mistake

Hey,

 I want to get something important out of the way.

A big mistake I see beginners and advanced learners make is this:

Being too focused on reaching specific goals, instead of playing without a clear goal in mind.

Being too goal focused can be hurtful to your practice, because:

A.) It can stop you from even starting.

B.) It can keep you unsatisfied in your moves even when they start becoming good

For example:

It makes me sad when I talk to somebody and hear them say:

“If only Parkour would’ve been around when I was younger,

 it’s too late for me to become any good at it now”

Or when I listened to an incredible 16 year old Freerunner, who easily does tricks I’ve never even landed, 

and heard him say “I just don’t feel excited about training anymore.”

After seeing countless examples like this, I asked myself: 

How do people end up in this situation and how can it be avoided?

This is what I think is going on:

Growing up we get used to measuring the quality of what we do by how well we do it. 

For example. “You’re really good at drawing, you should become an artist!”

Imagine if instead we would say something like this:
“Do you enjoy drawing? That’s great, do more of it.”

I believe especially starting out, the question of how well you do something shouldn’t matter at all. 

The whole thing get’s even worse when we start comparing ourselves to others.

How are you meant to ever be happy with what you’ve created when there’s always a 12 year old kid somewhere on the internet who has done it better than you already?

ALRIGHT, so what do I do instead?

Instead of making Parkour another thing in my life where I need to perform, set goals,

compare myself, and show up a certain number of times a week for it to be worth it,…

Why don’t we flip the script?

For me Parkour is an area in my life where it doesn’t matter if I do something decent or “good”.

It’s just a place to play and explore. Sometimes I do something I’m proud of, and quite often I don’t. 

 If I'm scared of a jump and don’t do it today... Who cares? The jump will still be there tomorrow.

Whatever happens in my Parkour session, I return to my “normal life” with new energy and a sense of play which transfers into the rest of my day.

I call it my “movement meditation” and it’s what I wish for you to have as well.

COOL, but how do I get there?

I think the way people learn Parkour today is part of the problem. We are learning from separate tutorials covering single tricks, which leads to everybody thinking in moves instead of movement. 

Beginners are trying to add as many new tricks to their skillset as possible,without learning how to play with those movements.

With my beginner course my ambition is to teach Parkour in the way I fell in love with it.

Giving you the right amount of tools to play, but also open ended quests to go and create something on your own. 

That way you can play and experience your own adventure, so you can become part of this movement meditation gang taking over the streets.

You in? I'll be back with some practical landing hacks tmr :)

Keep moving!
Jason