For the past three years or so, my New Year’s resolution has been to be able to do a split. For someone who could barely touch her toes, this was ambitious. Every year I would start off motivated and stretch on and off for a couple of weeks, but by February my resolution was forgotten. This year started out the same way, and then in September things changed.
In September, I moved into my dorm and met my roommate who is a dancer. I learned she could do a split and then confessed my repeated failed attempts at doing my own. She lead me through some stretches to try and daily and we created a little system to motivate each other. See, she had come up with a goal herself; she wanted to floss daily. It seems trivial, but flossing was something she just didn’t think to do so it never really happened for her. Pretty soon it turned into us checking in with each other every day to make sure we had each flossed or stretched.
Now, we have a whiteboard hanging on our door titled “Days of Consecutive Stretching and Flossing.” Every tenth day, we reward ourselves with ice cream. The whiteboard seems silly, but by holding each other accountable, we actually follow through with our daily goals. A few months later, I’d say I’ve gone from mediocre flexibility to slightly less mediocre flexibility. I won’t have my split down by 2018, but I won’t give up this time either. I’m proud of myself for the time and effort I’ve put in that lead to even just a little progress.
Whatever your resolutions may be, find a friend to help you stick with it, and don’t forget that ice cream helps too!