5 Easy steps for setting your goals
We’ve all set goals or challenges for ourselves in the past and haven’t hit the mark. Sometimes we didn’t have the time or motivation to work on them, other things took priority in our lives, or maybe we set ourselves a goal that wasn’t really achievable – whatever the reason, it’s disheartening when we don’t manage to achieve our goals.
Setting SMART goals helps us set and achieve our goals – while we’re at all at home so much, it’s a perfect time to have a think about what you want to achieve by the time you make it back to the studio. Follow these 5 step in setting your goals to give yourself a better chance at achieving them!
5 steps to SMART goals
S – Specific: Be clear about what you want to achieve, it should be direct, detailed and meaningful. Good goals are clear and defined. “Get more flexible” is harder to define than “get down flat in my middle splits”
M – Measurable: Make sure your goal can be clearly measured. How will you know when you have achieved your goal? If your goal is “get more flexible” it doesn’t have a way to show you when you’ve got it. But if your goal was to be flat in your middle splits, you can definitely see when you’ve achieved it!
A – Attainable: While we want our goals to challenge and stretch us, we don’t want them to be so out of reach that they always remain a distant dream. If you’re setting a goal of achieving a triple pirouette, when you’ve yet to master a single, the goal becomes out of reach. Good goals can be achieved (with work) with the resources you have or can obtain.
R – Relevant: If a goal is not relevant and meaningful to you and your life, you are not likely to want to work on it. Does your goal seem worthwhile? Will achieving it be beneficial to your dance journey? If it’s just something ‘cool you saw on Youtube’ it might not be the most beneficial thing to be spending your hard work on.
T – Time-bound: Give yourself a deadline. When do you want to achieve your goal? Good goals can be broken into timely, measurable steps that will motivate you, not discourage you. When will you know you’re halfway there? When do you need to achieve this? If your goal is to achieve your balance on a relevé for 10 seconds, and you don’t give yourself a deadline, you could be ‘working towards it’ indefinitely.
Hopefully you can use this list to set yourself some brand new SMART goals to work on during term 2 while you are dancing at home!
Don’t forget, holding yourself accountable also plays a big part in your achievement of goals – tell someone what you’re working towards. Write yourself a note and put it up in your room, or put it in your diary! Send us a message with your newest SMART GOAL, we’d love to know what you’re set on achieving and we’re excited to cheer you along the way!
Stay safe and happy dancing!
Alisa
