Setting Personal Goals

I'm a firm believer that self discipline triumphs motivation in most circumstances, but unfortunately I'm not disciplined enough (yet!) to not need motivation to work for my goals. Even though my teachers seem to always be telling me that I've improved, it's hard for me to see these improvements in myself. I can feel that some things are much easier for me now than they were five or six months ago when I first began taking classical ballet. However I can't help but think about how much better I could be right now if I'd been taking classes longer. I want to give myself something I can look at and be proud of. To be able to see the improvements I'm making, not just feel or hear them. I've decided to set two goals for myself to accomplish by the new year and I'd like to post them here!

Goal no.1:

By the end of the year I'd like to have both of my splits (right and left) completely flat to the ground. I was able to get my left splits flat for a while, but I injured myself and was unable to stretch for a few months without feeling like I was making my injury worse. Here are some pictures of both of my splits currently. Apologies for the poor quality!

Even if I don't reach my goal, seeing that there was improvement (even if it is only slight) will motivate me to keep pushing towards my goals. After all, small progress is better than no progress!

Goal no. 2:

By Christmas I'd like to learn the sugarplum fairy variation and perform it for my family. I'll be teaching myself the variation by following along to Natalie Danza's beginner variation tutorial (which I hope you all will check out so that we can learn together!). I haven't learned any classical ballet choreography since I was in the Nutcracker over a decade ago, so I don't have any videos of me dancing classical ballet. I'd like to post a video of my doing the variation on this blog so I'll have something to share with you guys and something to look back at when I become a more advanced dancer.

I can't wait to get started working towards these goals of mine and seeing myself improve! If you guys have any goals or challenges you're setting for yourselves I'd love to hear about them :D