Modest goals for sustainable change

January 17, 2024 Becci Curtis

For better and worse, the new year brings with it a lot of expectations.

I love working towards goals and I fully back anyone who is driven to take personal responsibility for the things they can influence and change. But we've all heard the anecdote: lots of people take out a gym membership in January and rarely attend past February.

Why? Because most people try to make too big a change, too frequently, too soon. (Yep, I’m in the ‘most people’ category too).

Unrealistic expectations set us up to fail (or fall asleep) at the first hurdle.

Small changes in behaviour that are repeated (and scaled up) over time allow new patterns of behaviour to form so that new habits can stick.

Stuck in the never-ending pursuit of 'fitness'?

May 18, 2022 Becci Curtis

Two road bike helmets rest on an outdoor Dutch cafe table alongside two flat whites and biscuits.

It might be time to set some modest goals

Last month, I left the city I called home for 10 years (Oxford, UK) and moved abroad (Nijmegen, NL). It’s been a pretty challenging time, so I have been putting into practise something I am generally useless at: sticking to modest goals (which is not to say that I'm great at sticking to grand goals either).

This is an insight into what I usually do...

Step 1: the ‘yay’ moment = energy! motivation! drive! do all the things!
Step 2: grind, grind, grind = overwork in all areas
Step 3: exhaustion = become a grumpy slug
Step 4: rest = do nothing (anxiously and resentfully)
Return to Step 1

I'm tired just listing that.

I got serious about overturning this habit in 2019 and then the pandemic happened, life sh*t happened, and I had to renege on that promise to myself out of necessity for a bit.

Well, it's now feels like time to get back on track.

How? By setting some modest goals, which—as ever—is somewhat easier said than done...

Practising patience

March 18, 2020 Becci Curtis

The last yoga class of term, Magdalen College, Tuesday 10th March 2020.

Putting yoga to work in a time of pandemic

To borrow a phrase from the internet: what a year this past week has been.

If nothing else, it's a lesson in how quickly things can change and - fortunately/unfortunately - it's a lesson we're all learning. I hold fear in one hand, hope in the other, and I'm not sure where to place either of them.

My primary instinct is to get to work. On an emotional level, I want to comfort (because I need comfort): we’ll all be ok, this too shall pass, I'm here for you, we'll get through this. On a practical level I want to help (because I, too, need help): what do you need? What can I bring? What can I make? What can I do? All ways of saying: I don't know what I need, I don't know what to ask for, I don't know how to be constructive, I don't know what to do. Tell me. Please.

Maybe you’re stockpiling. Maybe you’re denying, or downplaying. Worst-case, or best-case scenario planning - it's all the same: fear and hope.

Saving time

November 4, 2019 Becci Curtis

This is not a 'how to'. I'm not offering tips.

You won't learn any productivity 'hacks' ("yoga smarter, not harder"). This post is not about stockpiling time (can it even be done?), but saving it: rescuing, protecting, reclaiming, savouring even. How? By doing less; much, much, less.

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