Setting goals
One of the biggest issues for me has always been setting goals. If I set them too broad, eventually I will lose track and forget about what it was I had been working towards. If I set them too high, the constant failure to meet those goals gets very discouraging and can have a negative impact on my performance.
Since starting dance again, I have been setting goals for individual feiseanna, which have admittedly been a little low. In all honesty, though, it has worked for me. Being able to consistently meet goals has definitely given a boost to my confidence, and has encouraged me to work even harder. For example, for my first feis in 13 years (Nations Capital, which I have yet to write about), my only goal was to not place last in my dances. I not only did not place last, but placed out of Advanced Beginner in both reel and slip jig (still working on my light jib).
At the Young School Feis last October, I set the same goal for my trad set, which was the first time doing it outside of class, and which I saw as preparation for Oireachtas. Again, I exceeded my goal (2nd place out of 5 dancers), which again boosted my confidence, especially for Oireachtas (which quickly plummeted when I found out that I would have to do an entirely different trad set for MARO).
My third time setting lower goals was for Oireachtas itself. Out of 66 dancers, my goal was to recall. I didn't care if I was the last person recalled, as long as I did. Again, I exceeded expectations by placing in the top 10, inspiring me to work even harder.
After all this, I think it's time to set some harder goals for myself. For tomorrow's O'Rourke Feis, I plan on having a different goal for each dance. 4 out of my 5 dances are in Advanced Beginner/Novice, with the final one (hornpipe) in Advanced. Since I technically compete in Novice now for my reel and slip jig, my goal is to come in either first or second place for each of those. While I'm assuming I will be doing more advanced dances than some of the other competitors, they are definitely not as crisp as I would like them to be. If I can work hard tonight and tomorrow morning, maybe I can place first!
For my light jig, I would really love to just place. It's definitely my weakest dance, particularly because there is some funky movement in the second step which I always feel like I'm doing in a way that makes me look completely stupid. While it won't count towards anything if I do place, it will still boost my confidence for the next feis if I can place here.
My treble jig, while new-ish, is a basic step, which means I should be able to place at the top if I am crisp with my movements (and also manage to get my heel clicks!). Again, I'm setting first or second place as my goal.
My hornpipe is the one I have the least expectations for. I only learned the step a few weeks ago, and while it's simple, I'm also competing against dancers with far more complex steps who are dancing at a higher level than me (2 of whom are from my school). Normally I'd say I'm going to aim to not come in last, but I'm going to be bold (for me) and aim for third place. This goal definitely feels more like a stretch to me than the rest of them, but I have to start holding myself to a little higher standard.
While some of these goals are still a little low, I am trying to make them more precise than in the past. This way, instead of just placing, like I've aimed for before, I am now setting a particular place for myself. For bigger feiseanna, like the Big Apple Feis coming up, I want to set even more precise and higher goals for myself, as these are the opportunities for dancers to really come out and push themselves. Having a healthy-sized group of competitors (as I've discussed before) really helps in this.
Since starting dance again, I have been setting goals for individual feiseanna, which have admittedly been a little low. In all honesty, though, it has worked for me. Being able to consistently meet goals has definitely given a boost to my confidence, and has encouraged me to work even harder. For example, for my first feis in 13 years (Nations Capital, which I have yet to write about), my only goal was to not place last in my dances. I not only did not place last, but placed out of Advanced Beginner in both reel and slip jig (still working on my light jib).
At the Young School Feis last October, I set the same goal for my trad set, which was the first time doing it outside of class, and which I saw as preparation for Oireachtas. Again, I exceeded my goal (2nd place out of 5 dancers), which again boosted my confidence, especially for Oireachtas (which quickly plummeted when I found out that I would have to do an entirely different trad set for MARO).
My third time setting lower goals was for Oireachtas itself. Out of 66 dancers, my goal was to recall. I didn't care if I was the last person recalled, as long as I did. Again, I exceeded expectations by placing in the top 10, inspiring me to work even harder.
After all this, I think it's time to set some harder goals for myself. For tomorrow's O'Rourke Feis, I plan on having a different goal for each dance. 4 out of my 5 dances are in Advanced Beginner/Novice, with the final one (hornpipe) in Advanced. Since I technically compete in Novice now for my reel and slip jig, my goal is to come in either first or second place for each of those. While I'm assuming I will be doing more advanced dances than some of the other competitors, they are definitely not as crisp as I would like them to be. If I can work hard tonight and tomorrow morning, maybe I can place first!
For my light jig, I would really love to just place. It's definitely my weakest dance, particularly because there is some funky movement in the second step which I always feel like I'm doing in a way that makes me look completely stupid. While it won't count towards anything if I do place, it will still boost my confidence for the next feis if I can place here.
My treble jig, while new-ish, is a basic step, which means I should be able to place at the top if I am crisp with my movements (and also manage to get my heel clicks!). Again, I'm setting first or second place as my goal.
My hornpipe is the one I have the least expectations for. I only learned the step a few weeks ago, and while it's simple, I'm also competing against dancers with far more complex steps who are dancing at a higher level than me (2 of whom are from my school). Normally I'd say I'm going to aim to not come in last, but I'm going to be bold (for me) and aim for third place. This goal definitely feels more like a stretch to me than the rest of them, but I have to start holding myself to a little higher standard.
While some of these goals are still a little low, I am trying to make them more precise than in the past. This way, instead of just placing, like I've aimed for before, I am now setting a particular place for myself. For bigger feiseanna, like the Big Apple Feis coming up, I want to set even more precise and higher goals for myself, as these are the opportunities for dancers to really come out and push themselves. Having a healthy-sized group of competitors (as I've discussed before) really helps in this.
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