Happy Friday dancers and welcome back to another From the Top blog post! Today we’re going to talk a little bit about setting and reaching your dance goals. Dancers always have a mental list of things that we would like to work on improving but sometimes we can be so busy that we can find it a little hard to get around to accomplishing them. We may even lack motivation sometimes to do things like stretch a little more or practice those turns, for example. Nevertheless, they are still goals that we would love to reach despite lack of time, motivation or maybe even focus. Being a teacher and choreographer, I have the tendency to be so focused on my class – making choreography, setting dates, meeting deadlines – that I forget about my personal goals as a dancer. However, I have found a few ways to keep myself on track that have really helped me, and I wanted to share those same tips with you all today! Let’s get started!
Tip #1
USE A JOURNAL TO MAKE A LIST OF YOUR GOALS
I have mentioned keeping a journal before and that’s because they are so helpful and aid in growth in so many ways! So, my number one tip to meeting your dance goals is to make a list of the goals that you would like to accomplish. And even though I suggest keeping a journal, this list can be made on your phone, tablet or computer. Start by choosing one or two of your goals to focus on and work your way down the list as you accomplish each one. What will happen is that you’ll find yourself checking so many things off your list until one day you’ll notice that you have accomplished everything you’ve written down! I used this method early in my dance career and it worked like a charm!
Tip #2
DON’T TRY TO TACKLE TOO MANY THINGS AT ONCE
As I mentioned in the first tip, I highly suggest picking only one or two things to focus on at a time. If you try to focus on too many of your goals at once, you may find yourself getting overwhelmed and that will eventually take away your motivation to reach them at all. However, by focusing on one or two things at a time, you’ll be able to have a little tunnel vision, sort to speak, and you’ll be able to give your full attention to the goals that you’re focusing on at the moment. It just may even help you accomplish them quicker! You know what they say! Slow and steady wins the race!
Tip #3
DATE BOOKS CAN BE YOUR BEST FRIEND!
If you are a person who keeps a date book, pinning in a time to work on your set goals will also help you stay on track. By being able to see “Stretch @ 6:30 p.m.” or “Practice tap @ 7:00 p.m.”, it will help keep the thought of putting in the work needed to accomplish the things you want to accomplish in the forefront of your mind. If you’re not big on date books, you can set reminders in your phone that will notify you to practice at the time you’ve set. Anything that keeps it on your mind will be a big help in holding yourself accountable to reaching your goals.
Tip #4
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY BUT DON’T BE LAZY!
This is one of the biggest things that I had to conquer! After a long day, the last thing you may feel like doing is practicing. However, there are times that you simply just have to push if you’re able to. Now keep in mind that some days you’re just down right tired. You’ve had a long day and you just can’t bring yourself to do it. Guess what? That’s perfectly fine! We all have those days and when your body is telling you to rest, listen to it. There’s always tomorrow! However, we all know when we’re tired and when we are just being down right lazy. When you’re having one of your lazy days (and we ALL have them) just think about how happy you’re going to be when you reach that goal that you set for yourself and how much of a better dance that it’s going to make you! Sometimes we have to get in our own heads and motivate ourselves because there won’t always be someone there to do it for you. It so beneficial for us to be our own cheerleader and number one fan! Even if our Mom’s do assure us that they’re our number one fans…
Tip #5
STAY PATIENT AND DETERMINED
Another big tip that I always throw in with subjects like this is to always be patient with yourself and be happy with every bit of progress that you see. No sign of progress is too small or insignificant because it all works together to meet your goal! And in addition to staying patient with yourself, always keep your determination. Know that you can reach every goal that you set for yourself and even if it’s a little difficult to get down, if you stay consistent, you’ll have it conquered in what seems like no time!
And that wraps it up for today’s post! I hope these tips help you in your journey as they have in mine! And if you haven’t already, make sure you follow our social media outlets for more tips, tricks, giveaways and much more! The links are listed below! See you all in the next post!
Keep Dancing!
-Lexi
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