Well that great big, fucking stressful fandango that is Christmas and New Year has finally passed and 2018 has officially arrived. It’s the time of year again where the majority of folk make their resolutions, goals and plans for the year ahead and we pole dancers are no different. My Facebook and Instagram feeds (I ain’t much of a Twitter gal) have been littered the past week with several inspiring posts from my fellow pole dancers, detailing what pole related milestones they plan to conquer in 2018 (in case you’re interested, mine are those in the photo above), and I cannot bloody wait to see these goals come into fruition!
Setting pole goals for the year ahead is such a cracking little motivational tool that helps you get your ass in the studio when you would rather be sat on the sofa in a duvet fort ignoring the outside world. I find my goals work best when I write them down in my bestest, most fancy pants handwriting (Christ knows why, I guess it makes them seem more official?) then I can tick them off with a great sense of pride as I go along. Then at the end of the year, looking back on the list and what you thought was unattainable at the time suddenly has landed itself in your list of warm up moves!
Alternatively, at my pole studio, our teacher asks us to all write down one or two pole goals that we would like to achieve at the start of the year on a slip of paper, locks them away then re-opens them the following January. Again, you’ll be amazed at what you thought was a difficult move a year ago! Fucking hell back in January 2016, my pole goal was to “practice one type of sit at every practice session” (this was back in the day when I hadn’t been poling for very long and sitting on the pole equaled excruciating pain, HA!) by the end of the year I had managed my first butterfly! If I, a distinctly average pole dancer at best, managed to smash my goal that year then you certainly can to!
Finally, and this is the hard part, your goals have got to be something that sends you the fuck outta your comfort zone. Say for example you have nailed a Gemini perfectly and feel strong and confident in the trick, then it’s no use setting a goal along the lines of “always remember to point my toes in a Gemini.” A fucking solid goal that will send your pole progression soaring up into the stratosphere is one that will involve facing pain, fear and various other nasties along the way. Do you hate the Superman and find that move agonising (I sure as hell do) then set a goal for 2018 to nail the Superman. Do you spend hours on YouTube watching Amy Hazel and Michelle Shimmy compete, wish you could do it yourself but don’t quite think you have the guts to do so? Then sign up to your local pole competition! You never know how badass you really are until you decide to stop listening to your fears and face them head on, so whatever pole phobias you may have acquired (it’s perfectly normal, I have about 47) 2018 is the year you will overthrow them!
Always remember, pole is hard as fuck and you’re already an unfathomable badass for being a pole dancer, so you go forth, conquer and become an even greater badass in 2018! Set your goals and smash the bastards!
Chrome Chronicles 