How to Stop Worrying and Focus on Achieving Your Pro Cheer Goals
Worrying is a negative mental process that hinders us from reaching our dreams. It’s one of the symptoms of fearing the unknown. In your case as an aspiring pro cheerleader, you worry about not doing enough in your preparations and being rejected at the auditions as a result.
You’re not alone in this - most auditionees also feel the same way in their audition preparation journey. As a result of fearing rejection, a lot of aspiring pro cheerleaders including you might get paralyzed and turn to things that provide comfort.
Some of these comforting things waste your time, make preparation even harder, and cause you to abandon your pro cheer dreams. But we’re not going to talk about why you feel that way. We’re going to discuss how to divert your focus to succeed at the auditions. Here’s how to do it.
1. Organize your time for pro cheer activities
Make an action plan for every pro cheer preparation activity. Set a specific day with specific hours to do them. For example, assign confidence-building activities for Mondays, Wednesdays for dance practice, Fridays for makeup application, and the weekends for meal prepping. Pick a time for all these activities like 2 pm - 5 pm on these days.
By organizing your time effectively, you’ll focus on audition preparation activities even more rather than nurturing negative thoughts.
2. Write down your pro cheer goal worries
Take out your planner and write down what worries you. Your worries can be about being rejected at the auditions. On the right hand of that worry, write down the possible worst outcomes when the worry becomes true. In this case, it would be failing to achieve your pro cheer dream.
Doing this will make you feel less anxious because you have successfully identified what scares you the most. Then, you can easily accept the worst possible outcomes the audition rejection sets in motion.
However, instead of being paralyzed by fear, you’ll start working hard to not make that happen. You’ll focus on doing your best to be the model aspiring pro cheerleader that your dream team is looking for. Whatever it is you need to not do to avoid rejection, write them down as well just below your worries and their worst possible outcomes.
3. Kill your procrastinators and use fear to your advantage
As mentioned above, too much worrying scares you and that resulting fear can be paralyzing. As a result of being paralyzed by fear, you’ll then focus your attention on things that bring comfort. Sometimes, these comforting things make you waste more of your time.
It can be social media, Netflix binging, or a shopping spree in the mall. As your time is wasted, the chance of your worries happening increases. What about your audition preparation? Don’t allow yourself to be like this, put a timer on your phone and other devices’ apps. Practice self-discipline as well.
When you start to feel afraid, grit your teeth, and use that fear as a method to motivate you even further. Better yet, turn every weakness of yours into strengths. Create a sense of urgency in everything you do. Exercise harder and more frequently.
Follow your diet methods even more strictly. Give more time to practice and improve your dancing skills.
4. Think like a baby to achieve pro cheer goals
When completing an audition preparation goal, think like a baby learning to walk. Babies take time. They stand up and fall repeatedly until they learn how to go from point A to point B without any assistance. They also aren’t afraid of falling or being judged even if they have never walked before because their minds are focused on getting the job done.
You should do that as well. If you’re mastering dance choreography, just keep on practicing until you can do it effectively. Don’t think about what the judges or other people will think. Just do your best to achieve the goal.
5. Commit and deliver your pro cheer promises
The faster way to get over fear and focus on achieving your pro cheer goals is to put your integrity on the line. To do this, you need to make promises to yourself and everyone else. Since you’re aspiring to be a pro cheerleader, tell your family and friends that you’re going to be an arena dancer soon and you vow that it will happen.
Commitment is also helpful in achieving pro cheer goals because the person you made a commitment to will put you back in focus when you’re about to stray from the path. For example, if you’re about to eat fast food, the person you made a promise to will ask, “Aren’t you on a diet?”
The primary cause of worrying is a two-word question - “What if?” You should learn to stop asking that to yourself. Once you do, there will be no space left in your mind for fear and you’ll have more focus on achieving your pro cheer goals one by one. Then, it won’t be long until you realize that you are fully ready for the auditions.
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