3 Things To Do When You Feel Like Giving Up On Your Pro Cheer Dream

Have you caught yourself thinking, “Maybe I should just give up on being a pro cheerleader?” If you have, then you really are in a tight spot. Workouts, muscle soreness, strict diet regimen, dance practices, and fatigue might be some of the reasons for making you throw in the towel.

So read these words carefully, “You’re not alone feeling that way.” Your fellow aspirants know your struggles. Current and alumni pro cheerleaders like me came from where you are now. But there’s one thing that we all agreed on - Never stop until the pro cheer dream is reached. To do so, you should learn and follow these 3 strategies.

Set Realistic Expectations

There is one reason that you’ve heard or seen which made you go on a journey to be a pro cheerleader. It can be because of the glamorous life in the squad or the rare opportunities you can receive as a member.

Then, you’ve found out that the audition process isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. The road is rough as you need a lot of physical training, dieting, dancing, etc. Not to mention there are a lot of other aspiring pro cheerleaders like you as competitors.

What you should do is ask alumni pro cheerleaders what you need to do and what to expect. Read blogs online about the experiences of current pro cheerleaders as well. Their testimonies will help you prepare for the difficulties and the discouragements you’ll face as you’ll think of them as part of the journey.

Ask Yourself “What’s the worst that could happen if I fail?”

That feeling of not doing enough isn’t rare. I’ve been there before. I thought that I wasn’t cut out to be a pro cheerleader because my dancing wasn’t on a “professional-level”. To make my situation worse, I had little time for my audition preparation.

I did fail at first - getting rejected on the first squad. Although I felt scared of rejection and the thing I feared happened. I didn’t let it stop me. Instead, I kept moving on, continued my audition preparation, and found another squad that was going to hold an audition. Then I re-auditioned and succeeded in my goals to be a bonafide pro cheerleader.

All it took for me was to shift my “Oh no I won’t make it! It’s now or never!” mindset into “Rejection is not the end. It just means I have to be better.”

Try to Think Logically and Question Yourself

When you’re about to give up, take a break first. Emotions or impulses influence our decisions all the time so don’t make any yet. It could mean you’re on the right or wrong track. But most of the time, it’s just a response to stress. Making these emotion-based decisions leads to regret especially if you’ve calmed yourself down and found out it was a bad thing to make.

Write your thoughts about your problems first and do as much internal questioning as you can. Ask yourself, “Do I really want to be a professional cheerleader? What’s stopping me from achieving that dream? How may I address that? Should I ask for help? Who should I go to?”

By asking yourself questions like these, you won’t jump quickly to impulsive acts but instead, look for solutions to your problems.

It’s not easy to be a pro cheerleader and it’s even harder to do all your audition prep without help. There will be times where you just don’t feel being in the zone for a workout or a dance practicing session. But no matter what happens, don’t make hasty decisions without thorough thinking and always know to take a break when you’re overwhelmed. Talk to a friend or a family member if you want.

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