Self-confidence is the feeling of trust in one’s abilities, qualities and judgement. It can mean the difference between landing a job that you’ve always wanted as opposed to failing to make an impression during the interview process. It can mean the difference between scoring the game winning goal or missing the opportunity due to the lack of self-belief. It plays an integral part in all our lives and is an important personal quality that everybody should strive to improve.
Lots of people want to improve their self-confidence however many think that it’s just a matter of telling yourself to be confident. While this does help somewhat, there are actual tasks that you can do to boost the belief in yourself. We will look at 5 ways we use dance as a medium to achieve this:
1. Set small achievable goals. By setting yourself little manageable tasks and completing them, you build positive momentum towards achieving your larger goals. Any task, no matter how big can be broken down into manageable chunks. Keeping track as you complete the smaller, easier exercises will give you the courage to tackle the larger and more difficult tasks on your list. If your end goal is to be able to follow a full class worth of choreography, don’t go into your first class and be discouraged when you leave and find that you can’t remember all of the moves. This is too much to ask for a first timer and students who try to do this get discouraged very quickly. Instead, pick 2 or 3 combinations that you like and practice those during the week. Then when you come back the following week, pick another 2 or 3 combinations and try to tie them all together. Slowly you will be able to increase the number of combinations that you remember and before long you will be able to remember the full choreographed piece.
2. Plan a course of action and stick to it. Discipline is paramount to learning and excelling at any activity. Without it, you’re pretty much wasting your time. We all have those times where we don’t feel like doing certain things because of external circumstances but to cultivate discipline we need to push ourselves to do them anyway. It might be cold and raining, your legs could be sore from working out the day before and you had a customer abuse you today for no reason but if you’ve planned on attending Tuesday night dance classes for the term, then unless you’re physically unable to, drag yourself to class anyway and put in your best effort. Just the act of turning up and holding yourself accountable for your actions will instil an unstoppable belief in yourself. Everybody has their good days but it’s what you do on your off days that define your character.
3. Surround yourself with people who support you in improving yourself. We all have those so-called “friends” who we all hang out with but mock us when we try new activities to aid in our personal growth. Leave those friends at home and join an institution that attracts members who are on the same pathway as you. Most dance studios and academies welcome beginners with open arms and want to help you to grow and build your self-confidence. However, the first step of getting in contact with them is still inevitably up to you.
4. Ask questions in class. This is an important one. A lot of students in class are too worried about asking a “stupid” question in class when they don’t get a particular move or need clarification on a step. Ask! You’re in class to learn. Your question will not only help you get the move right, your whole demeanour will also change when you are sure of what you need to do. The result of being certain is your self-confidence will undoubtedly increase. Plus your question will probably help out other students in the class with a similar query and they will be grateful to you for speaking up to clarify.
5. Look upon criticism in a favourable light. We all have been in a situation where someone says something about what we do or how we do it and we immediately become defensive. This is a protection mechanism for our egos and is completely understandable as part of human behaviour. However, if growth and self-confidence is what you seek then this defensive mechanism needs to be actively controlled. The next time someone offers you advice on where your hands need to be or asks you to change the angle of your body, instead of immediately justifying to yourself that you are “right” or “correct”, take the time to evaluate the situation and see if the advice they ‘re offering you is beneficial. Of course, not all advice is good advice however you need to learn to take on constructive criticism or else your self-confidence will be easily shot down by anybody, including people who are genuinely trying to help you.
Self-confidence is more than just telling yourself to be confident. Like anything in life, it can be learnt and built upon, through the actions you take and your perspective on matters. Dance offers a multitude of ways to cultivate and refine your self-confidence and it remains a fun way to keeping fit and healthy.
If you live in Perth, I would recommend checking out the Cipher Dance Academy. Specializing in hip hop styles of dance, CDA offers kids and adult classes in hip hop / urban choreography, breakdancing and popping. Their class hierarchy and lesson structure ensures that students have a clear path to proceed from a beginner level through to an advanced stage. Knowing that you can plan your path from the beginning makes a huge difference in setting goals for yourself. All of their staff are helpful and friendly and the vibe of the classes are fun while maintaining a high level of work ethic. They also regularly offer specials and incentives to start so go to www.thecipher.com.au and begin your journey to higher levels of self-confidence today!
Views and thoughts of Ben Lee 