How to Embrace Feedback to Reach Your Dreams and Improve Your Pro Cheer Career
Learning on your own is one of the greatest ways to grow when pursuing a career or working as a professional. Reading articles online or a self-help book takes you a long way from just being a rookie cheerleader to a performer worthy of dancing for an NFL or NBA team.
But at times, you also need to seek the advice of others as you can be blind to your own flaws. Without embracing feedback, you might fall short during a pro cheer audition or miss the opportunity to unleash your full potential as a member of a squad.
In this blog post, you’ll discover what you need to do to embrace feedback about yourself as an aspiring or current pro cheerleader. And you’ll learn how you can apply it to improve yourself as a performer.
1. Open yourself up to the opinions and criticisms of others
We all know feedback can be delivered in a friendly or harsh manner. Either way, you must be ready to welcome it. Yes, it’s understandable to get angry if people criticize your efforts and current progress. But as mentioned, these critics can see something you don’t.
Let go of your pride. More importantly, be more accepting of feedback made by experts such as your dance class instructor, audition judges, veteran squadmates, and squad coach.
2. Actively ask for feedback
Some people won’t give you feedback out of the blue because they don’t want to rub you the wrong way. If you notice that nobody criticizes your audition prep or squad practice efforts, you should ask for their honest advice.
Remember, don’t ask for feedback from those who don’t know any better — just from those who have extensive knowledge about pro cheerleading, fitness, dancing, beauty, and personality development.
3. Listen before reacting
Similar to shutting other people’s voices out, we can overreact when presented with criticism. The most common overreaction is explaining yourself right away. Never let your emotions overcome you. Take a deep breath first and soak in the feedback you’re receiving.
Better yet, put extra focus on the praises and don’t dwell too much on the things you’ve heard that you don’t like. But don’t disregard the criticism. Doing so will help your emotions subside quickly which opens up your mind for learning.
4. Reflect on the feedback you’ve received
Now that you’ve listened to the advice, lessons. criticisms, opinions, and feedback, it’s time to look inward. Is their point correct? Did they mention something that you didn’t notice? Did they talk about an issue that you’ve noticed but refused to acknowledge?
These are the type of questions you should ask yourself to filter out the valuable points you can use to improve yourself.
5. Apply the things you’ve recently learned
After you’ve received the feedback you needed or asked for, it’s time to apply it in your audition preparation or dance practices. You might discover that some or all of the feedback you’ve received were actually right. Some can also yield no improvement.
For the feedback that led to no improvement, go back to the advice giver and explain to them. As an example, say, “I’ve done what you asked me to. It didn’t change anything.” Then demonstrate to prove your point and probably ask them for other tips.
Learning is a lifelong process. There are multiple answers to every problem and they come in different forms. What you lack as an aspiring or current pro cheerleader may not be supplemented by conventional means. But at the end of the day, what matters is your interest to seek them.
Read below to develop your personality for pro cheerleading!
- What Is Stage Presence? (And 5 Tips Every Pro Cheerleader Needs)
- 5 Ways to Improve Your Spiritual Wellness for a Thriving Pro Cheer Career
- 6 Ways to Emotionally Declutter and Have Better Focus to Achieve Your Pro Cheer Goals
- 7 Mental Shifts You Should Make Before You Become A Pro Cheerleader
- 9 Everyday Habits to Improve Your Public Speaking Skills
Do You Picture Yourself As A Professional Cheerleader? Get Expert Advice From Someone Who's Been There.
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