Hello again friends! An update and D.A.N.C.E.
megan hoyle
The last blog post that was published from myself was dated February 11th of last year. Complete face palm. All I can say is my life and this studio has drastically changed a lot in a little over a year. To be completely candid and transparent, I haven’t always been here, mentally. Christmas 2018, I lost my grandfather. He was the pillar of my family, the head of the table, the man that could do anything. In February 2019, my family underwent a major transformation as my ex husband and I separated. On April 3rd 2019, devastatingly, suddenly, and tragically my mother passed away from an unexpected heart attack. I am coming up on the anniversary of that date in two short days. And that’s just me personally.
Since then, in the dance studio, we’ve had a lot of sickness… very serious, tumors and trauma type of stuff.. Life altering instances that make you pause. We’ve also had injuries and not just your typical injuries either… but injuries that require rest, therapy, and drastic action. Our staff has underwent their share of death and loss here in the past year and past couple of weeks. And then, well, there’s this.. a novel virus that no human on earth has seen yet and it’s making its way through the US and there’s not a whole lot anyone can do except pray and stay away from each other. So we are now conducting online classes being that we can’t come in close proximity of each other.
Whew. Honestly, I don’t know if I have a “dance” point to this blog post, except this… Life is so incredibly hard some days and I miss the routine of seeing my students. Lots of days, their joy and passion and innocence and drive to learn and perform and perfect motivate me to keep going on a daily basis. I love knowing that I am a part of something bigger, making (hopefully) a positive impact in their lives. And to say it’s okay to not be okay sometimes. I never thought I of all people would be saying this, but it’s okay to fail. Because ultimately injuries, pain, both physical and emotional, and confusion and derailment are a part of life. And you won’t always be at the top of your game because life, death, sickness, injuries, and viruses do happen. My pastor once said, if it was all an uphill joyride, you’d never appreciate those “good times” because you wouldn’t recognize or appreciate them.
Life will eventually get back to a normalcy we remember and long for. I have no idea if it will ever go back completely to how it was before… but in the mean time I encourage us all to create something to look forward to, something to work for in this weird time… let’s create a D.A.N.C.E. goal. (Y’all know how I love me a goal…")
D is Difficult but Realistic
Being stuck inside, mindlessly trolling Facebook or going on a binge on Netflix is always an easy option. But maybe not the healthiest. For my dancers, is winning first over all at the next competition realistic for you? Great, let’s work on that. Is making the most advanced level company realistic? Or is correcting a specific mistake or habit a better option? How about making a goal to focus either on stretching or strength building? For the adults reading this out there… is your goal weight feasible? Awesome! But maybe it starts with trying not to gain the Quarantine 15. Haha. How about your financial goals? Your family goals? Are they all do-able with some work? You want to pick something that is real for you. Something that is challenging but that you’ll feel awesome about it once you complete it.
A is Assessable and Measurable
You need something where you can track and measure the progression. If you’re trying to build up stamina, trying running every Monday and sticking with that plan. Sure, running faster and covering more distance each and every time is way more ideal and definitely for the over-achiever but my point is this… make the result a clear outcome, so you’ll know without a doubt you’ve reached your goal.
N is Negative Shemagative
If we’ve learned anything, it’s that life happens whether you want it to or not… so if you miss a day, a workout, a stretch, an online dance class, please don’t let that bump in the road get you off course. Make it up the next pretty day, cut your losses and move on to the next week, or be sure to watch the recorded video on the studio app. And when we are laying out our goal… don’t phrase it in a way like “I have to stop eating all my quarantine snacks” or “I will not get behind on my schoolwork” instead flip it (and reverse it haha) and say “I will make healthy food choices today” or “I will get my schoolwork done each day”. Being positive does wonders for the mind.
C is Clarity
Okay, so now that you have a measurable goal. Now, we might need a clear game plan on how to get there. It might look something like this… (just examples)
Run every Monday till this thing is oveeeer!
Do each of my routines 5 times without stopping. If I stop, I have to start from the beginning.
Face time with at least one friend each day so I don’t feel like Rapunzel locked away in the tower.
Stretch everyday!
Help someone in the house cook a great, healthy meal.
Create an ab/core workout routine to a song that I love.
Etc, etc. I think you get the picture. If you are having trouble coming up with your clear steps to make your goal achievable, then message us and we’ll be able to help with that.
E is for End Date
Ohhhh, I have a love/hate relationship with end dates. It brings me back to group projects in high school and term papers in college. Blah! It’s good to have an end date because, once again, it makes your goal measurable. But I, like many other people, get very discouraged about end dates because so often with being a mama, a business owner, an instructor, and the other hats that I wear, end dates are not my friend. Because life. Life happens, folks. Other things start to take priority. So here’s my golden ticket rule. Goals are meant to inspire you, light a fire in you, push you, get you up off your bum and into something that feels good to your soul. So I try to put some visual stimulation around my end date. I make a vision board, draw 12 hearts around my end date, and other crazy things to keep me motivated. If I don’t reach my goal by the that end date, I give myself some grace and a different date. And if I don’t make it by my second end date then I re-evaluate my goal. Obviously something is wrong… it’s unachievable realistically… I don’t know how to manage it and break it down… my original date was too soon… or flat out… I don’t want to do it. I entertain the thought of not having reached this thing… and if bothers me… like irritates me that I’ve put in so much work already, like I would be sad at the missed opportunity, or I would be unhappy with myself then I attempt it one more time. For adults, this process of goal setting, to me, takes a tremendously long time. More dedication and more effort simply because we have jobs to maintain, little humans to keep alive, and there are many more stall on the track but I believe the end result is worth it. For kids and my dancers, I think you’ll see results quicker but please remember, if it’s worth having, it’s worth the hard work. You’ll be amazed what a tiny amount of work can do and then you’ll be hooked on seeing that process continue.
Please share with us your goal! We’d love to hear it! Everyone be safe out there…