How to achieve dance goals

If you ask any competitive dancer they will be able to tell you at least ten things they think they could improve.  Dancers are good like that.  At a young age, they have a remarkable grasp of what they are good at and where there are areas for improvement. However, saying that you need to improve something and actually having the tools to make that happen are two very different things.  Learning how to achieve dance goals is a specific skill. Just like any other skill it needs to be learned, applied, and scaffolded.

Why are SMART goals important?

There is a brilliant and comprehensive Goal setting for Dancers pack available over in the Resources for dance teachers store, but if you are looking for something to get started with, please enjoy the free Goal Setting for Dancers printable below.  It shows dancers how to achieve dance goals, demonstrating each step from the brainstorming process right through to setting specific goals for each week.  It is based on the principle of SMART goals, that is, goals need to be Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based.  

SMART goals and dance

For dancers, this means that saying something vague like “I want to be more flexible’ is unlikely to lead to success.  This Goal setting for dancers printable encourages dancers to be much more specific with their goals.  A more specific goal might be something like, “I want to get my left leg splits.”  From there, it is important to set a deadline.  No goal was ever achieved just by wishing it.  We all know that there is nothing like a deadline to increase motivation and when it comes to how to achieve dance goals, the situation is no different.  If you know that you have set yourself a goal to achieve in 4 weeks, you are much less likely to miss a practice session.

To get started on guided Goal setting for Dancers and learn how to achieve dance goals, please download this free printable by entering your email below. If you are ready to take the next step and start accessing the kinds of performance psychology that Olympians like Michael Phelps used to perform at elite levels, check out the Success Mindset Pack for dancers.

Go to the full page to view and submit the form.

If you are interested in learning more about Growth Mindset and Dance, check out these articles

How to succeed at dance competitions

Dancer Success and Growth Mindset

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