But… apart from the “Glam”, what interests me most is why do certain participants learn well, improve, and excel, while some plateau and others never quite take off? Is it all down to natural rhythm? Previous dance experience? A competitive edge? Practice? I don’t know, and while I am sure all of these are components that matter, what is the magic ingredient?

How big a factor is What and How we think about ourselves? Two reference points come to mind on this particular question that might shed some light…

 "The Inner Game"

Tim Gallwey, the author of a series of best-selling “The Inner Game” books, all focused on overcoming inner obstacles such as fear of failure or self-doubt, poses a very important question: what game are you playing? Are you playing to win? Tim believes the best way to play, is to play to learn. Play to fulfil your own potential and you will actually get a better performance. Tim’s work shows that our efforts to improve ourselves and our performance can actually interfere with what we hope to achieve. Traditional methods of learning, i.e. following detailed instruction, can actually get in the way of learning. He acknowledges the power of attention, and his source analogy is around a baby learning to walk. If a parent was to codify and narrate each specific detailed instruction to the baby, would she ever get it? Instead the baby observes, tries, falls, gets up, modifies and tries again, falls, gets up and tries again, until she finds out what works. Then that feels good and she keeps doing it. So, in real life and in the corporate world, how can we apply this?

Some key pointers:

• Stop being busy for a moment to observe and become aware of what is really happening. Are you applying self-limiting beliefs e.g. the dancer might say I have no natural rhythm, therefore I will never get this. It may be more helpful to recognise what is actually happening in the dance, what feedback has the dancer gotten from the judges, what are they loving about the dance?
• Think, what picture does this fresh perspective paint?
• Your thoughts. What next step makes most sense now?
• Proceed. Now that you have decided on a revised plan of action you can re-engage with renewed perspective and commitment.

"The Power of Self-Talk"

Along the same lines, an “old” article I read from Psychology Today dated December 1989 which still resonates today, by Harriet B. Braiker called “The Power of Self-Talk”, contends that by becoming aware of what you are saying to yourself, about yourself, you can understand why you react the way you do to events and people in your life. Harriet’s article has its basis in cognitive therapy, the key tenant of which is beliefs and thoughts, as represented by words and assumptions, have the greatest impact on emotions, behaviour and state of mind.

The trick is to capture your self-talk, rationally analyse if what you actually think IS true, and then restate what you factually know. For example the dancer who thinks ‘I have two left feet, therefore I’m never going to be a dancer’, might restate the truer position by outlining what they are good at and what they still need to work on. This enables them to ask what behaviour the erroneous self-talk generated, identify how it has hindered them from achieving their goal, outline the actions their corrected self-talk suggests, and lastly, define how they will be better when they change their approach.

By directly assaulting self-hindering thought, you can profoundly improve your emotional well-being and overall functioning. ……. Dancers Take Note!!

Link: YouTube Peter Hudson talks to W. Timothy Gallwey
References: The Inner Game books by T. Gallwey
The Power of Self-Talk by Harriet B. Braiker Psychology Today, December 1989