Building on Small Successes

Reaching any of your goals means staying motivated. The same is true if you would like to build a consistent yoga practice. Along the way you will have successes and difficulties. It can be tempting to give up when you face challenges. Some days it is just too tempting to stay home and not make it to the studio.

The key is to continue building on small successes to help you stay motivated. It might take up to 12 weeks to get into the groove of taking yoga classes regularly. Not only you need to form a new habit of practicing yoga but in the first weeks you might not yet realize all the wonderful benefits of a yoga practice. During that time thinking about giving up is easy.

We advise all new yoga students to take 12 weeks and only then make the decision if yoga is for them or not.

The smallest success can be all you need to instill action. It’s what gives you a belief in yourself and your ability to succeed. When you face obstacles, look at the small success you’ve achieved so far. Buying your first yoga class card, showing up at the studio, finishing the first class and showing up for a second class – these might seem small achievements to you now. Please don’t devalue these steps, though. The start of anything new is always the most difficult part.

Often the reason your motivation slacks off is from a lack of confidence. You may be focusing on the big goal – creating a yoga practice and showing off the benefits. Instead, think of all the smaller successful steps you’ve already taken towards your goal. Instead of focusing on how far off that final goal is, look at how you’ve already achieved.

Step by Step

How do you eat an elephant? Spoonful by spoonful. Focus on what you can do each day. The big goal is your guide to where you want to go, but it’s the daily small success steps you take that get you to it. For example, taking 5 deep yoga breaths every morning and evening seems such a small achievement in the big scheme of things. But those yoga breaths will create a yoga habit and will make you feel confident to commit to daily practice and weekly classes at the studio.
Focusing on the small successes along the way allows you to see results. It builds your confidence to move to the next level, to take a bigger step.

Here are some examples of ways to build on small successes:

• If you want to lose weight, you move from buying a pedometer to walking 100 steps the first week. Then the next week you walk 150 steps. You increase your steps each week, building on the previous week’s success. Soon enough walking becomes a welcome addition to your day.

• If you want to eat healthier, start by eliminating one unhealthy food each week and adding a healthier version. The first step could be to choose dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. Next week replace another unhealthy food with a healthier version (e.g. drinking water instead of soda in the mornings), and continue this success system until you are eating mostly healthy foods.

• If you want to be live an active lifestyle, start by trying out many different ways of exercise. The first small goal is to find something you like to do so you can actually look forward to the activity. Then attend the first class, add the activity to your calendar, show up for the 2nd, then the 3rd time. By building on these small success steps you will build an active lifestyle.

Have you thought about practicing up yoga but you still need to take that very first step? We have great news! Take a totally free yoga class at Clayton Yoga Studio! As a new subscriber to our monthly newsletter, you will get a free class voucher you can use till May 15th, 2015. Just look for the spring yellow box on the right side to sign up to get your voucher in your inbox.

We can’t wait to greet you at Clayton Yoga Studio!