I’m gonna be upfront with you, dance teachers. I don’t set New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve never liked the term ‘resolution’, because to me, it’s served with a hot side of steaming guilt, and that’s never a productive or inspiring mindset to start a new year with. Most of us, when we hear the phrase, “new year’s resolution”, automatically think of dieting, being in debt, eating more salads, and a slew of other things we feel pressure to do, but usually don’t do.

To me, the word “resolve” feels hard, and stoic. It feels unmoving, and inflexible, like a toddler digging his heels in at the playground after you’ve announced it’s time to go. The other feelings that come to mind when I think of “resolve”, is to give in, and to give up. As in, finally, after try after try after try, I resign / resolve to eat kale this year, even though I’ve tried it in every iteration and hate it. Those feelings don’t work for me. I don’t want to ring in a new year, and all its possibilities by being inflexible, or resigned.

Plus, I’ve just never found resolutions to work for me. Every time I made a new year’s resolution in my teens and 20’s, I always ended up right back where I started after a few weeks. I found because I approached my habits and behaviors with a fixed and rigid resolve, I didn’t have any built in wiggle room for hard days, or unexpected occurances. So once I slipped at my resolutions, I just figured I’d failed and there was no point in going on. Scientific studies have been done that show I’m not alone in this. The truth about resolutions is that they just don’t work.

On the other hand, I do like goals. For several years now, I’ve been all about setting new year’s goals, rather than resolutions. When I think of goals, I think of fresh starts, a plan of action, and excitement. To me, those are much more successful feelings to have when starting out in a new year. Another beautiful thing about goals is that they can adapt, evolve, and change with us, as we learn and grow. Setting goals feels expanisive, and full of possibilities, but there’s an important element to consider when you (or your dancers) set goals for 2022.

It’s crucial that you consider your WHY.

One of the most common reasons people set goals is to increase wellbeing. We set goals because we’re not currently feeling the way we want to feel, and we want to change, and rearrange things in our lives so that we can get closer to feeling the way we want to feel. But it’s important to ask ourselves WHY we want to feel the way we want to feel. This is a key question in unlocking if our goals are intrisnically motivated, or extrinsic motivated.

If you want your goals for 2022 to stick, you’ve got to understand the why behind them, and you’ve got to make sure that why is aligned with your values. This goes for your dancers as well. For example, if you have a student who has made a goal to get into a specific summer program, it’s important for both you, and the dancer, to get curious about why that goal is important. Is it important because they want to witness their own improvement in skill and artistry (intrinsic), or is it important because this dancer has a rival who got accepted to this program last year, and they want to one-up their rival (extrinsic)?

The truth about your 2022 goals is that if they’re not aligned with your values, and rooted in intrinsic motivation, you’re not likely to achieve them. The truth about the goals your dance students make for 2022 is that if they’re not aligned with their values, and rooted in intrinsic motivation, they won’t be likely to achieve them.

The good news is that all of this is totally within your control! Read this blog post for tips on how to set meaningful goals with your dancers, and check out my New Year Goal Kits for dancers HERE!

The Kits are the perfect way to set the tone for a positive, and fresh new year, and will help your dancers:

practice mindfulness
identify what they want to improve
rely on internal motivation and reflection, rather than seeking external validation
affirm all the progress they’ve already made this year
practice being respectful of their mind and body

The Kits are only available for 5 more days, at the special price of $15, then they’ll disappear from my online shop, so now’s the time to act!

Wishing you and your dancers a year ahead that’s filled with meaningful and why-driven goals, and cheering you on as we take on another year; we’ve got this!

The Truth About Your 2022 Resolutions