Especially with the current covid restrictions in place can often feel difficult to see whether you're improving in your dance or fitness activity of choice. Without a definite goal to works towards, such as a performance, competition or even regular classes, it can often lead to a lack of motivation. This makes it difficult to work on your improvement and progression, which in turn results in a plateau, or even a slip backwards.

In order to prevent this, we need to be able to find ways to motivate ourselves to ensure our continued growth and improvement. Self-motivation (which comes from the internal desire to improve for the sake of improvement) is something that all of us have, but don't always act upon. When there are external sources of motivation (such as a performance to prepare for), we are so focused on meeting that goal that we forget about our internal motivations to improve. Sometimes, we may even get so obsessed with these performances and competitions that we lose sight of our self-motivation, and in the absence of these big events, we lose sight of the fundamental reason we dance or work out in the first place - for personal enjoyment and growth.

Thus, we recommend these healthy habits that you can practice in order to keep yourself engaged and motivated to better yourself and meet your full potential as a fitness or dance enthusiast.

1. Set a clear and immediate goal for each session

Before your next work out session or class, be it a personal training session, zoom class or in person class, set a short-term goal for yourself that you want to achieve. This goal can focus on any part of your work out - it could be the ability to dance your choreography perfectly once through, or to learn a new technique or skill for that day - and should be reasonably attainable by the end of the session. Once you have your goal, every step of your workout or class should be bringing you closer to achieve this goal, with the aim of attaining it by the end of the session. Having a clear goal for yourself focuses your energies and allows you to move with intent, both of which help you improve in your activity of choice. 

If you attain your desired goal - great! Pick a new goal for the next session. If you can't quite meet your goal, carry it over to the next session. Sometimes you just need a little more practice and time to meet your target!

2. Reflect after each of your sessions

Sometimes, looking back can be as helpful as looking forward. After a workout session or class, pen down some thoughts you had while you were exercising. Some things worth noting are:

• What you did well (it is always important to recognise and reward yourself for something that you are happy with)
• What you need to improve on (recognising your problem areas is the first step to fixing them)
• Where there any particular high or low moments (reflecting on our moods can help clarify our intentions and motivations
• Any notes you received from your instructor (to help you remember for the next session)

3. Create a video montage of your progress

Who doesn't love a good movie montage! Well, why not turn your workout habit into one? Set yourself a long term goal to achieve over an extended period of time (this could be anywhere between a month and a year) as well as a definitive date to look back and see your progress. Then, every time you work on your extended goal, take a video of yourself, noting the date of when the video was taken. When you've reached your designated date, compile all the videos together and watch how much you've progressed!