Here's eight steps to starting and maintaining a practice habit. They're accompanied by some silly cartoons for a giggle. Such an earnest subject needs a bit of light relief! But first, please make sure to read The Awesome Power of Being Boring - Part 1; upon which these strategies are based. It will also explain the ironic title! 1) Set a specific, achievable goal Define and visualise yourself dancing the way you would ultimately like to dance. Notice how that looks and feels. Focus on the elements involved in that dancing - for example, musicality, repertoire of moves, posture, ornamenting, or some other element that inspires you. Choose one or several that you would like to improve. Let's use for example the tango walk...
will not be as effective as, for example... Make your goal achievable! Image: www.weblogcartoons.com 2) Set "micro quotas" When beginning it's best to set extremely low quotas. For example, replace: with...
image: http://2.bp.blogspot.com 3) Visualise yourself dancing the way you would like to dance and include the specific practice required. For example:
4) Link the desired habit to an already existing habit Such habits could include "arriving home", "eating lunch", "before work" and so on. For example:
5) Get rid of obstacles to starting your practice Identify where exactly "getting started" falls apart for you and create shortcuts so that any disruptions to your routine are lessened. image: www.markstivers.com Remove disruptions to getting started by using If - Then statements. For example, if you feel too tired to practice...
...or if your partner is the one who can't get motivated to practice?..
6) When you can't get started - focus on your achievements There are likely to be moments when no matter what motivational strategies you use, you just can't get sufficiently inspired to do your practice. When that happens focus on the total days you’ve done your habit, rather than the fact that you broke the routine. image: http://kevinspear.com 7) Reduce variability
8) Record and track your progress
Happy practicing! |
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