Campus Connection

[caption id="attachment_3005" align="alignleft" width="290"] Jennifer (Tischaefer)Ignacio,'01, gives her acceptance speech at UW-L as a recent inductee into the Athletic Wall of Fame. Ignacio majored in elementary and middle school education. She set many records while on UW-L’s soccer team from 1996-2000, including the most goals in a career.[/caption]

Soccer alum gives five tips to make a new year’s resolution come true

January is the time we set goals for the new year. By February, we’ve probably broken them. UW-L Alum Jennifer Ignacio, ’01, and recent inductee on UW-L’s Athletic Wall of Fame for soccer, knows a thing or two about scoring goals — both on the soccer field and in life. While on UW-L’s soccer team, she set records for the most goals and assists in a game, season and career. As an adult, she continues to push herself to achieve. Now a third-grade teacher at Kyrene del Millenio Elementary School in Phoenix, Ariz., Ignacio found the work-life balance to manage a new goal of completing 200 days of hot yoga in a row. Ignacio says the idea started when she saw a flashy ad in July on Groupon.com for “30 days of yoga for $40.” She decided to buy it and get her money’s worth by challenging herself to 30 consecutive days of hot yoga. But as Ignacio realized she could achieve this manageable time commitment, she aimed higher: 60 days. Ignacio unexpectedly began to love the new structure of her schedule. As an elementary school teacher, it was easy to be tempted to leave late every day and lug home piles of work. But her new afternoon yoga commitment, pushed her to work more efficiently. “Setting this goal and going to yoga every day gave me the excuse to cut the cord from work,” she says. Because of the obvious benefits, Ignacio decided not to stop at 60 days, but aim for an even 100. And coincidentally her 100th yoga class fell on Oct. 7, 2012, when she gave her acceptance speech at UW-L as a recent inductee into the Athletic Wall of Fame. As Ignacio crafted her speech in the hotel room the night before, she reflected on her inspiration from a blind student in her class. The student inspired her because he wouldn’t limit himself by making excuses. Ignacio told the crowd that she would make no excuses for herself either. To end the speech with a bang, she decided to add an additional 100 days of hot yoga to her goal for a total of 200 days.

Ignacio offers 5 tips to help you score your goal

1. Set manageable goals and build on them. Ignacio kept her initial goal reasonable — 30 consecutive days of yoga. She knew she could handle that with her work and family schedule. She then built on that goal.
2. Make your goal part of your routine. Ignacio made going to class a part of her day, much like getting dressed, eating breakfast and going to work. After awhile it became a natural urge to pack up her yoga gear and head to class.
3. Trust your ability to manage a new commitment. New goals may mean investing time that you don’t think you have. But sometimes more commitments will force you to manage time more efficiently. When Ignacio felt pressured to choose between working late versus going to yoga, she says “I trusted my competence in my job and knew I would figure out how to get it done. And I ALWAYS did. Since I knew I was going to yoga daily, I found ways to become more efficient and proactive at work and with the things I needed to do at home.”
4. Find ways to make your goal more fun. Ignacio says she made friends at the yoga studio. This was helpful because on days she didn't feel like going, she just needed to show up to class and she would feel instantly energized by the familiar faces and friendships. “One girl even surprised me with flowers and a card on my 100th day,” she says.
5. Know your limits. Ignacio says because she had steps 1 to 4 in place, after 30 days, extending her goal was an easy choice. But she also knew how to dial back when she needed to. After a healthcare professional advised her that it would be harder for her to have a child with this level of intensive exercise, Ignacio decided to reassess her goal. She completed 141 days of hot yoga and then dialed back her workouts to four times per week.