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Happy New Goals!

Writer's picture: Roxanne K. DemersRoxanne K. Demers

Updated: Mar 7, 2023

Yes, this is an end of year review article. What is it about the saying New Year, New Me? Who is this new better and wiser version of yourself? But to understand who that new person is, you need to look back at what you've accomplished. I offer to you today some ideas to take a look at the past year with an optimistic eye and also to set new (realistic) goals for the upcoming one. I will mostly focus on the physical well-being aspect, but feel free to adapt my little tricks to other areas of your life. You can change the concepts to better fulfill your needs and personality type.


2022 REVIEW

The Good Ones


Take some time to write down what your good moves were in the past year. Did you add more movement to your weekly routine? Did you manage to finally invert on the pole? Did you perform in front of an audience for the first time? Be proud of what you accomplished in the last 12 months, you deserve it. Around the end of the year, we tend to focus on what negative things happened to us. Don't dwelve into this trap. Be positive about everything you were able to do, even the smallest things. Celebrate the person this year has helped you become.


The Memories


Thanks to data collecting technologies, you probably have an app to tell you what your most listened songs of the year are. Take some time to reflect on why you needed those songs this year. Why did the lyrics, the beat or the voice connect with how you were feeling at that time? Are you still in the same headspace? What kind of memories do those melodies bring back? Play your Most Listened playlist and freestyle to the songs, you might see how every piece creates a different pattern of movement - or maybe it doesn't. Be mindful of how you body wants to flow.


And why stop to music? Think about your favorite movie or series of the year. What was so great about it? And your favorite book - how did it touch you?


The Progress


Watch videos or pictures from where you were in January and the following months. Sometimes we don't see the progress when it's happening, but looking back will help you appreciate how far you've come. I personally enjoy making a short recap Reel on Instagram with videos from the past year.


I also like to travel back in time by peaking at my schedule from past months. Seeing what a typical week used to look like versus what it looks like now may help you take decisions for the upcoming season : are you doing too much right now or do you think you could add some trainings here and there? Maybe you'll even find events you forgot about, like a dinner party where you promised a friend you would call them more often (do it now!), or a cool concert you went to that inspired you to create a choreography that you never finished.


2023 GOALS

You can plan your new goals how ever you prefer : a journal in which you'll write your progress, a piece of paper that you keep next to your bed and read every once in a while, a Pinterest board, it can even just be a note in your phone. Do whatever feels the easiest for you. But here are some advice I follow and I believe you should too because they totally make sense. (They're not my ideas, I just made them more cohesive with my plan.)


Be Realistic


If you recently started your movement journey, chances are that your flexibility is still limited for the moment. Don't hope to be able to do a Bird of Paradise pose by the end of next year : maybe aim for something smaller, like get your split on one side. If you saw a really cool combo on the internet that is too hard for you now but you dream of doing eventually, decompose the combo in more accessible moves. Once you get the first move, work on the next one. When you have both moves individually, work on the transition between them.


If you have never ever worked out before, your dream of training 5 times a week seems very intimidating. While it's noble to hope to be the person who trains that much, that's just not you yet. Start with once a week. When it feels natural and is just part of your normal routine, add a second training session.


I know it seems obvious, but we often ask too much of ourselves and that's how we get disappointed. Having smaller steps will make you feel like you are evolving faster. Enjoy the process is what they say.


Be Precise


"I wanna be more flexible." Okay... What does that means? Do you wanna become a professional contortionist? Do you wanna touch your feet to your head? Or do you hope to be able to touch your toes without bending your knees?


Have measurable goals. I want to hold this move for 10 seconds. I want to bench 225 pounds. I want to be able to do 5 repetitions of this exercise. I can only order 1 take-out order per week. I need to set 20 dollars per pay check aside. See how all those goals seem more accessible than save money or workout more?


To be even more precise, you can add time frames. I want to be able to invert on my own in two months. I'm gonna add one aerial class per week starting in June. I wish to have my middle split by the end of next year.


Keep Track


I know a lot of people enjoy journaling. It's not my thing, I keep forgetting to write things down, but if it works for you, you should definitely do it! Writing and having visual cues is an excellent way to keep track of your progress. If you feel inspired by the idea of the Bullet Journal, you can create your own grids where you mark down when you moved you body, when you ate homemade lunchs, or how often you stretched in the morning.


Another way to journal about your movement progress is by doing it right after your training. Write down where you were, who you trained with, what you worked on, what music was playing, how you felt (tired, proud, strong, sore), etc.


If journaling doesn't work for you, you could set a specific moment as a check-up point. Let's say every first day of the month, you take a picture of the deepest you can go into your split. Or every Sunday morning you do as many pull-ups as you can and you note it in your Google Calendar. That way you can track your progress in a linear way. But don't forget that progress isn't always a perfect straight line! Don't get discouraged by being a little less mobile that one time.


I used to make a never-ending list of "goals" every January and I would only look back at it at the very end of the year. Not only was it full of non-measurable stuff (does driving to Ottawa counts as Travel more?), I would also be a very different person after 12 months and didn't care that much about those objectives anymore (I didn't go to the Opera and I'm totally fine with it). I'm glad I'm changing for a more progress-based list and that I'm also being more precise in what I want and when I want it to happen.


Do you have a New Year's tradition to set new intentions? Will you be doing a list of goals for 2023? Share with us how you'll keep track of the evolution of each of your dreams!

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