Practice to Lose
In the following article we will talk about a vital topic that is “Practice to Lose” lets discuss regarding it thoroughly within the article:
As a dance institute, we spend quite a lot of time encouraging kids to practice. Practice actually makes perfect. Practice is the key to make progress. Practice like you are actually performing. We have all types of sayings to encourage our dancers to actually work hard and practice their craft. Why do we ask them to practice? Because we really want them to do well, to be prepared, to achieve success , to “win.” But here’s the thing, in any given circumstance, that kid may or may not really come out on top.
If practice is actually the best preparation, then why don’t we have our kids practice losing? We know, that really sounds crazy to our success driven society, but the truth of the matter is, that your child is going to face disappointment. While we are so busy preparing them to do their best and to win, we hardly hear any discussion about losing. In fact, it seems that many parents try to avoid the experiences of loss or disappointment for their child at all costs. We would really suggest to do the opposite. We actually encourage you to put your child in to situations where they can practice losing, and still be okay.
At any given dance competition, we may have ten dancers competing for the same top spot. Simple mathematics tells you that one may win, and therefore the other nine will “lose.” which isn’t even taking in to consideration all of the other dancers from other studios in attendance. So you really need to put your child in a situation where he/she would lose. Here are the amazing things that happen when a kid doesn’t come out on top:
- It tests whether or not they are dancing because they love it, or whether they are simply dancing to earn a trophy. We really want our dancers to love dance, regardless of their placement.
- It allows them to face disappointment in a very controlled way that doesn’t disrupt their safety or life trajectory.
- Hopefully they’re ready to gracefully congratulate those that placed better than them and learn to genuinely appreciate the success of others.
- They learn that while disappointing, an unsuccessful outcome doesn’t define their experience.
- They come back to the studio eager to actually train and improve upon their skills. In short, it makes them “hungry” – and that’s the best kind of dancer to train.
Admittedly, we aren’t really a large fan of dance competitions in general, however there’s one aspect that we do find very valuable, which is to actually teach life skills. We would much rather see a kid experience disappointment for for the 1st at ten around a dance trophy than at twenty around a job placement. If they learn at a young age that disappointment is actually a part of the process and doesn’t define the journey, they’re far more capable of handling setbacks in their adult life. That resilience is worth much more than any trophy they might receive. So what we say is that, bring on the losses! Let our youngsters soak them up, learn that life goes on, and love what they are doing no matter the result – that’s the true win!