Goals are great. Smart goals keep you focused and motivated. But not all goals are created equal. Some can actually knock you off balance. Shaky goals are draining, distracting and can hold you back. The interesting thing is that smart people sometimes have pretty shaky goals and don’t realize the damage they cause until it is already done.
Here are 10 shaky ballroom goals, their smart cousins and the damage those cousins avert:
1. Better or Best?
Shaky Goal: To be the best in every comp.
Smart Goal: To be better than you were in your last comp.
Damage averted by the smart goal: Loosing your love of dance.
2. Turns
Shaky Goal: To do 15 turns in a row (or whatever special skill or cool trick you want to master).
Smart Goal: To never miss a practice and never forget to work on your turns/special skill or cool trick.
Damage averted: Feeling frustrated and then forgetting your other skills while you work on this one.
3. Costume
Shaky Goal: To wear the costume that everyone says is awesome.
Smart Goal: To wear the costume that make you feel awesome.
Damage averted: Having your costume own you!… instead of the other way around.
4. Partner
Shaky Goal: To only dance with people at or above your level.
Smart Goal: To appreciate every partner in that moment of dance so you can enjoy that moment and allow your partner to as well.
Damage averted: “That” reputation, which by the way also makes partners above and at your level less interested in dancing with you.
5. Fascial Expressions
Shaky Goal: To practice your facial expressions so you can turn on the right one any time you want.
Smart Goal: Practice feeling the music and visualizing the story of dance and let your facial expressions show that naturally.
Damage averted: Looking weird.
6. Training
Shaky Goal: Make time for marathon training sessions before each competition.
Smart Goal: Train consistently at all times so there is no time that you completely unready for a comp (even if it means dancing an old routine while developing to a new one).
Damage averted: Injury, forgetting choreography, iffy musicality and general panic.
7. Travelling for Competition
Shaky Goal: Wait until the very last minute to get you entries in, and book your hotel and travel.
Smart Goal: Save some cash, aggravation and earn appreciation from organizers by knowing what you want and committing to it on time.
Damage averted: Eventually having an organizer strangle you.
8. Celebration
Shaky Goal: Celebrate the big successes and titles.
Smart Goal: Recognize the progress and success in every practice as well and the big successes and titles.
Damage averted: Burnout and general everyday pissyness.
9. Attitude
Shaky Goal: To beat “them”.
Smart Goal: To find your own best dancing focusing more on you than “them”.
Damage averted: Distraction from you own potential and development.
10. Debugging Your Dance
Shaky Goals: To re-train, re-shape, re-engineer your body.
Smart Goals: To do something every day that makes you healthier, stronger and calmer about your body.
Damage averted: Not getting healthier, stronger and calmer.
Author: Miss P [Celebrate DanceSport]
Photography: Anna Lebiedzińska Photography
Exclusively for Dance Comp Review