How to deal with stress of a competition – JC Dance stars
A guide for parents & caregivers
In less than 2 weeks from now, you will have the pleasure of watching your loved one on stage , dazzling , shining and mesmerizing. Many many days and nights of practice, control, modulation, introspection and hard work will see the spot-light on stage ! If you are a teacher, parent, friend or participant let us just congratulate you in advance. Let us applaud you right away in appreciation for the courage and confidence in walking up to the stage and performing under that glaring spot-light. And this is our small attempt at suggesting how to deal with stress of a competition- JC dance stars. This by no means is comprehensive list of all things you can do ! How to deal with stress of a competition – Jc dance stars A guide for parents & caregivers.
Of course while winning is important, that’s the goal for most of the performers. Every participant wants to win, every participant wants to be at the top, every performer wants that dazzling medal because winning evokes a sense of pride, happiness and thrill!
But Its not always easy to keep it together when it feels like winning is everything. Help your loved ones and any performer on stage, keep a healthy attitude about participation, about healthy competition and develop the tools to deal with the stress that comes with competing! Know how to deal with stress of a competition- JC dance stars. Below is our brief guide on how to deal with stress of a competition – JC dance stars
And while winning is important, its not everything! Encourage you to talk to children about the following
Not winning is an option : Failure is the biggest stepping stone
When a baby is first learning to walk, she’s falls down many times. This, in fact, is failure. But, if you ask any mother about her baby’s ability to walk ,she will be confident and without doubt that her baby will one day walk. She might fall down many times, but she will surely walk. Of course , falling down and failing while learning to walk is just a part of life.
So, Dear parents, teachers and coaches.. these are your babies on stage and any failures should be treated with same confidence and same hope! This is the first reminder when you step into competition. The first method of how to deal with stress of a competition- JC dance stars
Remind yourself that without failure, we’d be less capable of compassion, empathy, kindness, and great achievement; we would be less likely to reach for the stars. We would not adjust our goals, re- assess our strategy and strike again, harder!
Irrespective of the outcomes and where will you rank at the end of the competition there are 4 important lessons that only failure can teach us .. and these lessons are the way to deal with stress- a simple guide map.
Experience: Its valuable
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” — Michael Jordan
Remind your child that when we go through something ,we walk away with firsthand experience, it helps us to develop a deeper understanding of the skill and hone it better. There is no short cut to gaining experience. This dear parents should serve as a reminder when you question how to deal with stress of a competition- JC dance stars
Knowledge : Gain Gain & Gain
“When Thomas Edison famously failed nearly 10,000 times to create a commercially viable electric lightbulb, with each failure, he gained the knowledge of just one more avenue that didn’t work. It was the accumulated knowledge developed from nearly 10,000 failed ones”
Knowledge harnessed from failures is a stepping-stone to future victories.
- Growth : Upon failure is when we usually develop deeper perspective, understand if we truly understand the skill we are trying to master. This makes us grow and without growth we will never get better!
- Resilience: In order to achieve long term success, we must know and understand resilience. Because, if we think that we’re going to succeed on the first try, or even the first few tries, then we’re sure to set ourselves up for a far more painful failure .
- Of course reminding yourself of failures and setting right expectations is part of being a good coach/parent , remember to do the below on the final performance day
- Praise the efforts: your words and actions mean the world to your students and children. Your attention and encouragement helps build their self-confidence and self-esteem. The two components that will take them places and win over in toughest life situations. Its not only imperative to view this on how to deal with stress of a competition but in life otherwise too.
- Avoid Sarcastic Remarks – If a child loses or fails , find out how he or she feels about the situation. Children may get discouraged and need a pep talk. Later, when they are ready, talk and offer assurance. Avoid making sarcastic remarks.. Remember your child watches you like a hawk, so it’s important to handle your own disappointments with grace. If you panic every time, it wont set the right example and set them to lose interest in something they derive joy from
- Encourage– Make them the best version of themselves: Encourage to not only strive to do their best, work with them to get better on stage and build confidence . Nothing works better than a little pep talk about how much their effort means and that their hard work will show. A little challenge is always good!
- Be their best cheerleader :support them with positive words . Encourage them and let them know that it’s the effort that counts. Irrespective of the results , your position with them never changes! You believe in them and You are their best cheerleader!.
- Make memories: Stage performance is feared by 75% of adults. You are raising brave young soldiers and making them stage ready for future, so might as well capture these moments and make memories.
- Enjoy the journey: At the end what matters is how much fun they had , how much did they enjoy and how do they feel about this journey! And if it was a steep learning curve, an experience worth sharing , it’s a journey worth clapping for! Enjoy it
These are few things you can do and be advised on how to deal with stress of a competition – JC dance stars, and by no means is this list and article comprehensive, but a means to support the large community of enthusiastic parents and participants !
Good luck everyone
