A dancer's list of resolutions - 2015

A personal resolution would be to practice on one technical aspect at a time rather than trying to improve all at once, because then I just get upset with myself because of how complicated that is. Sounds silly but I would really like to work on that.

Another would be live a healthier lifestyle consisting of a better diet and more exercising that includes me going to the gym.
 
  1. To get back into dancing more seriously now that I have school off my plate.
  2. Find a good yoga studio to go to regularly.
  3. Take lessons.
 
IndyLady said:
Try not to overspend. It would be nice to actually have some money left over this year.
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This one I am pretty good about! I decide on my budget for the year, do a rough outline of where I think the money would be best spent, and sit down with my pro and go over it. He usually starts with the number, does his own version, and then we compare. Since we have done this a couple of times, the allocations now end up pretty much the same. I will acknowledge that when I set my budget, I set it a few thousand low, knowing that I will easily find a good way to spend those last $$$. It gives us a little flexibility during the year as well.

I'm putting all of this out here because most people seem to not do it. It was--humorously--listed as a good student attribute with a visiting coach and the coach's reaction indicated that it is not a widespread practice. I'm actually a little shocked at how much I can spend without it directly increasing my teacher's income. First time we did this, for example, he wanted me to allocate some of the budget to new dresses. He also has a better idea that I would have of how much to allocate for visiting coaches. This only works if most of your dancing $$$ get funneled through a central point, but it has helped me a lot. Pro isn't having to always ask me if I want to do X or Y and my decisions are make with a good overview, rather than in isolation.

(I hope this all makes sense, not enough sleep last night….)
 
This year I will:
- Keep up the good diet, exercise and practice habits that were brought in last year. Add in a little more cardio ideally, but if all I do is maintain, I'll consider that a win.
- Concentrate on enjoying the competitive experience. I chose to do this, and there is no sense in stressing about it.
- Take steps to bring the fun back into dance. Latin is coming back into my schedule at the end of Feb, and I start a weekly ballet class in a couple of weeks. I love to dance, and it doesn't need to be all about competition all the time.
- Make my open scholarship début, and be competitive in it by the end of the year.
- Compete in a location that will let my family come to watch.
- Keep dance in perspective - well try, anyway! - and not let all the little things that happen at the studio drive me crazy. This is not my whole life.

And on the pipe dream side... find an amateur partner.
 
I just printed out a Jan. calendar and am keeping track of my practicing for the month. In line with my realization that a small amount of practice is significantly better than nothing and knowing that there is a certain amount of non-dance exercising/stretching that I have to do to be able to dance, I have outlined a minimal exercising/stretching/practice routine for myself and how I should extend it when I have more time. I think my goal will be to meet that, oh, 26 times this month. I'll let you know how it went at the end of the month. :)
 
FWIW, I do project a dance budget at the beginning of each year... but somehow it seems like additional unanticipated spending opportunities always surface during the year.

Of course, in 2014 I deliberately went all out (a few pricy comps) knowing I wasn't going to be doing that again, so my hope is that I can maintain the discipline to stick to this year's smaller budget and avoid large impulse expenses.
 
IndyLady said:
Of course, in 2014 I deliberately went all out (a few pricy comps) knowing I wasn't going to be doing that again, so my hope is that I can maintain the discipline to stick to this year's smaller budget and avoid large impulse expenses.
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Same thing here--I decided to do more than usual last year. As a result this years budget--which is plenty big--seems restrictive. In my case, it was primarily extra lessons last year which really spoiled me. Drat having to be realistic!!!
 
Hmmm. 2015 has suddenly changed a bit due to health reasons!

Originally the goals were: to compete in 3-4 local comps with just a few heats and then ohio. Have a coaching once a month. Continue to practice on my own the way I have been. Increase stamina.

Now it's:
Regain the stamina I had. Regain the body shape I had. Regain the strength I had. Get back to where I was before surgery. (Stupid surgery). Compete as soon as I am healthy enough to do so - not to overdo it! Coachings, practice as above, and maybe ohio. Then maybe try to improve stamina.
 
I definitely need to get on that budget thing...after I find out how end of year reviews shook out and the consequential changes to my salary, if any.
 
RiseNFall said:
This one I am pretty good about! I decide on my budget for the year, do a rough outline of where I think the money would be best spent, and sit down with my pro and go over it. He usually starts with the number, does his own version, and then we compare. Since we have done this a couple of times, the allocations now end up pretty much the same. I will acknowledge that when I set my budget, I set it a few thousand low, knowing that I will easily find a good way to spend those last $$$. It gives us a little flexibility during the year as well.

I'm putting all of this out here because most people seem to not do it. It was--humorously--listed as a good student attribute with a visiting coach and the coach's reaction indicated that it is not a widespread practice. I'm actually a little shocked at how much I can spend without it directly increasing my teacher's income. First time we did this, for example, he wanted me to allocate some of the budget to new dresses. He also has a better idea that I would have of how much to allocate for visiting coaches. This only works if most of your dancing $$$ get funneled through a central point, but it has helped me a lot. Pro isn't having to always ask me if I want to do X or Y and my decisions are make with a good overview, rather than in isolation.

(I hope this all makes sense, not enough sleep last night….)
Click to expand...

I just want to thank you for posting this! Last week after my lesson, my teacher asked me what 2015 Resolutions/Goals were so he would know what to focus and work on. I have to say it was a bit uncomfortable, but I brought up how much I could realistically afford to spend without maxing out my credit card. I don't think I would have had the confidence to speak up like that if I hadn't read this post!
 
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