Motivating oneself for a competition is a tricky business. Enthusiasm for competing is a mercurial thing which is chased repeatedly throughout the days before and constantly during the day of the event.
With the next competition coming up soon, and with both of us currently feeling very 'over' this year, I am hoping we can refocus on simply enjoying ourselves and taking on only the feedback we want to hear in order to stay upbeat and therefore motivated.
I recently had some acquaintances say they had the joy of dancing (overseas of course) at 1.30am, which I am eternally grateful for that this does not exist for us here in little petite Perth!
However, one must never measure oneself against others' experiences, and so I still find myself questioning how am I to motivate myself, particularly on competition day?
Not having all my events spaced out does make motivation easier. But this is a rare thing naturally, as it is good to see many people competition in multiple categories.
I found myself questioning motivation at a competition just recently, and discovered that the act of sitting in a comfortable chair (shocking posture optional) and actually relaxing must have helped. Not waiting till 'later' to go to the bathroom, or have that fizzy drink you promised yourself for after competing assisted too I believe.
In other words, just being content to wait and not overthinking anything. Shocking stuff, I know.
The next challenge in motivating is staying positive for growth. This is incredibly hard as a female when your hormones are working against you; I believe we need to take the little wins when there's just no other choice biologically possible.
Staying positive for growth, and not just staying positive for the sake of it, is difficult for me as I tend to take facts and construct a negative framework around them, rather than a positive or neutral one.
For example, when I cannot achieve a particular movement in dance, I create the story instantly that I cannot possibly do this either now or in the future. My body just 'isn't capable'. Even though my coaches will then show me that yes, I can indeed complete the skill well enough, I still insist on ignoring the fact that I can. A lot of this behaviour stems from frustration and not being able to complete something perfectly the first time. How I am to learn to break away from this, I have no idea.
A quick internet search reveals that burnout is ever present in our lives, and perfectionism can be a part of this. Most blogs/news sites recommend taking a break - going on holidays, or mixing up the training process in some way. We did have a holiday just recently, but I think more breaks more often would be better for us as we both have demanding jobs, physically and mentally and perhaps we are just asking far too much of ourselves to continue the constant push.
For a reminder of what we should all be doing, with any hobby/serious pursuit, I found this blog post by Amy Shope of DanceSpirit (Dance Magazine) helpful.
Another article on the site by Amanda Sherwin discusses some of the ideas raised in the first blog post in further detail -
"“The gold-standard behavioral treatment for depression is ‘behavioral activation,’ which is a fancy word for getting out and being active,” Rowan explains. “Specifically, activities that help boost your confidence and/or are pleasurable in some way.” "
At this stage, I would assume that starting my blogs up again cover this (and yes, I am getting professional help for the depression/anxiety).
The other concept I need to work on is "Amp Up Your Relaxation" - in other words, take time to do nearly nothing. Go for a walk, sit and read a book, play the Sims or a cosy game for a little bit. To fit these things in, other things need to be sacrificed though. Backing off on the housework and prioritising things that absolutely HAVE to be done as opposing to thinking everything needs to be done, and right now. Letting stuff just, well, go.
So the next competition for me will be all about letting stuff go, and remembering that it's just 'the next competition' and it's supposed to be enjoyable - I'm supposed to have fun.
If that means walking around outside in the sunshine in full comp dress, then so be it.
Enjoy!
-randombaubles/everydaybeautyinlife
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