Welcome back to DeathJester’s Dojo. This week, I’ll be talking about cultivating the very foundation for success at anything; in this case YGO. In order to start putting together the building blocks of success, you need to have a plan. How do you design this plan? Is there a right way to do it? No. You can design your plan anyway you like. The only condition is that you set realistic goals. You can’t become World Champion in a week right?

 

This plan is based on goals. If you set detailed and realistic goals for yourself, there’s nothing you can’t do. As an exercise, try writing down your goals in this game (Remember, this exercise applies to real life as well). Be sure to be specific about what time frame you would like to accomplish these goals in. For example:

 

Short Term (1-3 months):

 

• Construct a successful Beatdown deck
• Win my local tournament 5 times
•  Top 16 at a Regional Tournament

 

Mid-Term (3-6 months):

 

• Win 2 Regional Tournaments
• Win 2 Hobby League Championships
• Top 8 at an SJC

 

Long Term (6 months to 1 year)

 

• Win a Shonen Jump Championship
• Top 8 at Nationals
• Win 4 Regionals

 

It’s always more clear when you write your goals down on paper. It’s harder to ignore them that way. I’ve always found that if you keep your goals in memory, you tend to forget about them when the going gets tough. Do yourself a favor and write/type your Short, Mid, and Long Term goals RIGHT NOW…

 

Done with that? Good. Now take that sheet of paper, get some tape, push-pin, staples, or whatever you can find to hang this up somewhere. When you’ve got your materials, put that baby up somewhere you always go. It could be your house, car, bathroom; it doesn’t matter where it is, just make sure that you can see it every single day as a reminder of what your goals are. You’ve just taken the first step. The objective here is to reduce the amount of excuses you can give yourself to not follow through with your goals. Think you’ve got excuses? I’ve got more of them. I’m probably the laziest guy on earth, but damn it I get myself out there and accomplish the things I want to accomplish. It’s all about what you want to do anyway right?

 

A good thing to remember is to not limit your goals to just competitive YGO. Part of achieving success at anything is setting goals that will make you feel like you accomplished something significant at whatever you are interested in. You define your own success. If you want to be the most competent UDE Judge in YGO, then by all means do so. If it’s your goals to be the most prominent writer in the entire YGO community, then DO IT. Set your goals and get moving!

 

 

Knowing what you’re doing

 

It’s one thing to set goals. It’s entirely a different story staying on track with them. This is why I would like to get into the topic of self evaluation.

 

It’s important to have goals; yes. It’s important to be constantly reminded of them; yes. It’s ALSO important to evaluate those goals. Goals are not always set in stone. Goals change just like we do. Sometimes your goals are not really what you wanted. What if you accomplished the goal of winning a Regional Tournament? What now? You’re stuck. This is where self evaluation comes into play. You have to ask yourself “Ok, I won this Regional…now what?” Don’t avoid questions like that. This is part of why we have our one-hit wonder SJC/Regionals Winners. They may be truly talented at this game, yet they can’t win another major event if their life depended on it.

 

You should always keep progressing forward. Cultivate new goals from your experiences, change them, and scrutinize them with the most critical of eyes. That’s only way you can create strong and well-defined goals. Once you set your mind on your goals, no one can stop you from achieving them, not even YOU.

 

Here are sample questions to ask yourself about your goals (we’re talking YGO here of course):

 

·        How does this particular activity relate to my current goals?

·        Am I any closer to achieving my goals?

·        Do I need to change my goals in response to what has happened recently?

·        What will I do after I achieve this goal?

 

Even if you fail, the best thing you can do for yourself is to seize the opportunities for success you are given from failure. You can’t succeed if you don’t fail first. How the hell would you know what to do if you didn’t mess up the first couple times? It’s like learning how to ride a bike, tying a shoe, or even playing your deck correctly. The pros aren’t always truly talented geniuses at everything they do. Everyone has to learn. You want to know what the difference between a genius and the average person is. A genius just learns a tiny bit faster. A genius uses his/her creative imagination to build well-defined and realistic goals to become that much more proficient at whatever he/she does. Anyone can do that. There’s nothing mystifying about it. Be positive and aggressive about achieving your goals.

 

I’ll leave you with my absolute favorite quote from Thomas Edison.

 

“I am not discouraged. Each failed attempt is the next step toward progress” –Thomas Edison

 

 

Email me at: deathjester86@gmail.com with any questions or comments.