I’d like to confess something up front, I’m a procrastinator.
Yes, a procrastinator. As in I put off doing tasks until I have no options but to get it done.
But a part of growing as a dancer (and as an adult), requires me to overcome obstacles in my path – one of which is my procrastination.
Practice makes perfect… when you do it
It’s really easy to not practice right. It feels good, and you’d happy “noodle” around all day, but do you really practice your dance?
That’s me in a sentence right there. I am more than happy to dance my own dance, but when it comes to doing my online classes that I need to do and doing my drilling, I take choreography and improvisation and mucking about to things I want to hear.
Now, this may not seem like procrastination, but it is one form of it.
Another form is that when I could dance, I come across 15 other tasks that will all of a sudden become more interesting or important! How can I turn down doing the dishes from yesterday, when I need to do the hard work?
I’m on a mission
My mission is to practice one thing properly per day.
Just one. That’s my minimum. If I get time for 2, even better. But, starting small, I’m aiming to complete one proper practice. I’ve even set myself a schedule of what those items are!
But how do I make this happen? It’s one thing to set a plan, another to actually execute it and make it something I want to keep doing.
Deadlines only work for so long. Then the deadline goes and you no longer have the push to get there.
Public Accountability
It could be to a friend, or a group of people who help keep you on track.
They call you out when you don’t post to tell them what you’re doing. And when you do post your practice, they’re there to applaud your effort – even if the effort is that you got off the couch, tried for 10 minutes, couldn’t summon the energy, so you’ll be back on the wagon tomorrow.
Above are some of my accountability posts, and the responses they have provoked from my group of accountability friends. These people are there for me regardless of if I’m in a great space, or a poor one.
Their reactions help keep me on track too. Which keeps me doing the work I need to do, and getting better at this crazy old thing we call belly dance.
Come and see the combos I put together in one of my daily sessions in my classes and workshops.
