We all know the feeling – you walk into the studio ready to kick ass, only to find your body and mind aren't quite on the same page. Maybe your grip sucks, your climbs feel sluggish, or inverts feel damn near impossible. Before you beat yourself up, consider this: not every day is created equal.
As pole dancers, we are haunted by where we think we should be, or sometimes where we used to be, in our pole journey, and those intrusive thoughts keep us from poling in the bodies we have today.
A quick holistic check-in can help us listen to our bodies, adjust expectations, and ultimately, get more out of poling for ourselves.
This is where the all new version of the Ultimate Pole Goal Notebook comes in.
Where We've Been
The First Edition of the Ultimate Pole Goal Notebook had several sections: one for class notes, one for planning what to do in open pole, one for recording milestones and firsts, one for tackling specific goals, and a few blank sections for what have you.
The Second Edition had all of that too, but included The TRACK Method, which is my goal setting strategy created especially for pole dance. It helped pole dancers consider their Timing, Resources, Advantages, Challenges, and Keenness when setting a pole goal.
It was good! But it was a lot.
The newest version of the Ultimate Pole Goal Notebook takes all of the good intention of the previous editions, scales it down, and organizes it around two easy-to-use and well laid out pages... and that's it. And finally, it's spiral bound.
What's Inside the ALL NEW Ultimate Pole Goal Notebook
The left side is a dedicated space for writing down the nuts and bolts of the class, workshop, or session: time, date, things you worked on, and plenty of space to note what went well and what needs more time or attention.
The right side is your personal dashboard for the day. In Today’s Dashboard, you can quickly take stock of a variety of factors that can impact your performance by shading in where you’re at. In addition to tracking your water intake, mood, and energy levels, you can also quickly assess your bandwidth, meaning how much capacity you have, for the following:
- Social: interacting, engaging, or generally mixing with other people
- Physical: coping with pain, injury, a chronic condition, or other body challenge
- Mental: following directions, taking cues, or remembering steps
- Emotional: managing your own feelings or the feelings of others
- Environmental: dealing with distractions, sounds, smells, or sensations
If you have a menstrual cycle, knowing in general which phase you’re in can illuminate some things about your training, like skin sensitivity, fatigue, or dizziness. If you don’t have a cycle, you can indicate that too!
You can also note your overall stress level, whether it’s dialed way down low, cranked to the max, or somewhere in between. You can get an inside look here.
Benefits of a Quick Check In with Yourself
Just by quickly shading in where you are on Today’s Dashboard, you can get a quick holistic snapshot of where you are across a variety of key areas. The more snapshots you take, the more patterns you’ll notice. Then you can start to draw helpful conclusions about yourself and your training, such as:
- Wow, every time I take an evening class, I have less energy. Maybe I’m a morning poler!
- Interesting, every time I drink at least five glasses of water, I notice I’m less sore the next day.
- Whoa, my energy level goes up after a difficult class. I think pole invigorates me!
It’s cool to unlock cool new pole tricks, learn more choreography, or develop your own style and pole flow. It’s important to set personal goals and keep an eye on your progress as you train. But staying mindful is how we don't let the intrusive I-should-be-able-to thoughts win.
You're at the Center, and You're Not Alone
And I almost forgot the best part! I collected advice, tips, and wisdom from pole dancers and strippers, and there’s one quote on each page. So using the Ultimate Pole Goal Notebook is like having a little cheerleader in your pocket when you pole!
Use the Ultimate Pole Goal Notebook to support the part of being a pole dancer that matters most: yourself. It’s corny, but it’s true! You’re at the center of it all, and everyone who contributed a quick tip for Today’s Dashboard is right beside you, so you’re not alone.