Comparing yourself... to yourself and recognizing your own achievements!

A revealing end-of-year review

As part of my end-of-year reflections, I prepared a small summary of the accomplishments my partner and I achieved through our dance school during 2024. 

While digging through our videos to put this recap together, I stumbled upon our very first demos* together from late 2022 - the moment when we had just launched our Brazilian zouk school. 

Seeing the progress: a moment of pride

Watching those videos made me truly realize how much progress we've made over the past few years. 

All those hours of practice, study and classes… all the subtleties we discovered and slowly integrated into our dance, week after week, through countless hours of dancing - making our movement so much more fluid and enjoyable - I could suddenly see them right there in front of me! 

You'll find a few clips from our demos in 2022 and 2024 in this short video montage. You’ll be able to make your own observations!

Comparing ourselves to others… or to ourselves?

The importance of taking a step back

It's often easy to compare ourselves to others - to aspire to dance like them, or to feel discouraged when we think we're regressing, when we need to revisit our basics, or when progress is slow and barely visible.

Sometimes, it's worth taking a step back and remembering where we started, what we've accomplished since, and what we’ve overcome - so we can better appreciate where we stand today. 

Stepping back to move forward

And sometimes, taking a step back is exactly what allows us to move forward more effectively afterward. In other words, the little detours we take, which may seem like a waste of time, are often blessings in disguise!

Everyone has their own path, their own progress

A unique perspective for each of us

We all carry our own baggage of experiences, which shape how we perceive and react to the events we live through. 

So what matters isn’t how we compare ourselves to others but how we compare ourselves to ourselves! What matters is our own progress! 

Progressing endlessly

When we stop wanting to learn, we block our ability to evolve, grow and progress on our life path! We can always choose to learn from our experiences, with the intention of improving and moving forward! 

I like to think of myself as an eternal student of life! 

Your visible and invisible achievements

What makes you proud?

And you, what are the achievements you are you most proud of in recent years? 

When I talk about achievements, they can be visible (like my example with dance) but also invisible (such as changes in the way we manage our emotions, thoughts, stress, mindset, etc.)! 

Often, visible and invisible achievements go hand in hand, as is the case for me with dance! 

Need a little support?

Do you find it hard to see your own achievements? Do you feel that you're “stuck” or not moving forward? 

I invite you to consider individual coaching, where I can help you become aware of your accomplishments, and also of the elements that may currently be holding you back. 

Give it a try and discover the co-creative power of coaching!

* The term demo here refers to the improvised dances we do at the end of a workshop to illustrate different ways of integrating the movements learned in class.