'Strictly Come Dancing' is a reality TV show which makes grown men tremble if only at the thought of dancing with beautiful women in skimpy clothes.
A professional dance champion coaches an amateur partner and they perform a weekly dance together. The judges give points and the general public phone in on behalf of their favourites. One couple are eliminated every week.
Motivation is a key factor in deciding who will do their best and who will win. The program is full of key motivational lessons.
One huge source of motivation is other people. Even the judges can provide tremendous support to a performer. This will boost their confidence and make them keen not to let the judge down.
Bruno Tonioli, an Italian judge, has given enthusiastic support to Louisa Lytton, the 17 year old star of a soap opera, who has a natural talent for dancing but who has little confidence in herself.
Bruno quite often goes into raptures over Louisa's performances:
"Oh what a gorgeous dancing little betty doll you are! You are a gorgeous sparkling bouncing baby - an explosion of fun. I adored it!"
Bruno was the only judge to award a 10 out 10 score to guess who? Louisa! She naturally appreciates this support which cannot fail to motivate her.
Her partner, Vincent Simone, also gives her consistent support. He praises her ability and his own at every opportunity!
"She gives me so much inspiration that I want to go crazy about the choreography. I can do basically whatever I want."
However, in rehearsal, Louisa comes up with a stream of negative comments:
"I can't do it ! Oh, I can't do that; it's too difficult. I can't! I can't! If I see something in the mirror and it looks terrible, I panic."
Vincent stays calm and tells her: "Believe in me even though I am an Italian! On Saturday I want you to believe in me. I'm going to be your rock."
Claudia: Winkleman, the interviewer, was amazed at Vincent's patience with Louisa's constant declarations of the fatal words: "I can't!"
"Don't you want to say: "Your right! You can't! Let's go and sit in the audience!"
Louisa was also motivated by sheer enjoyment. She loved some of the dances like the jive. In the week of the jive, she and Vincent did very little training but still did well
Louisa said: "I don't think it was anything to do with the training but I was enjoying myself so much that I really went for it."
Sheer enjoyment is a powerful motivator. My martial students enjoy kicking and elbowing shields and focus mitts. They often break into spontaneous applause at the end of such sessions. This kind of enjoyable experience keeps them training!
Erin Boag, the professional who came second in last year's competition, partners former Manchester United goalkeeper the great 6ft 4 inches tall Dane, Peter Schmeichel.
Erin has been called 'Miss Whiplash' because of her tough teaching style but she soon learned that praise would motivate Schmeichel more than anything else:
"You have to praise Peter to get the best out of him."
She herself was motivated to fight back and get on with the necessary hard work by unfair criticism and knock backs.
She was upset when the judges attacked Schmeichel's performance in the Paso Doble. Len Goodman commented:
"Paso Doble? You couldn't pass a tortoise!"
Even Bruno was critical: "It was like the colossus of Rhodes doing stop motion!"
Craig Revel Horwood said: "It was heavy, wooden, hideous!"
The word 'hideous' upset Erin Boag; "It wasn't hideous. It was far from hideous. "
Erin knows how to react to criticism and disappointment. She was naturally upset when she only came second in last year's competition:
"When you get knocked or pipped at the post you turn around and say: 'I'll show you! It makes you more hungry."
Both Erin and Peter are motivated to work hard in order to get things right. . Erin said: "I will do as many hours as he will give me." She is even motivated enough to fly over to Copenhagen to train with Peter when he returns to his homeland.
Peter commented: "Neither of us mind going over the same little sequence twenty times to get it right."
In football he had to practise the same thing again and again in pursuit of perfection.
Peter must also have been touched and motivated by the support of the Manchester United fans who made up a special song for him and even performed it with actions on television:
"He steps to the left. He steps to the right.
That boy Shmeichel. He can Tango all night."
Peter described how he was greatly moved and motivated by the fact that the great British public kept him and Erin in the competition by phoning in their support. The phone calls made up for the poor scores which were given him by the judges.
Matt Dawson, the rugby player, worked hard and was a quick learner but lacked charisma and character in the first week. However, he was motivated to improve by watching the performances of the other dancers.
Inspiration and motivation can come from the example of others. I usually suggest to my students that they attend a martial arts grading even if they are not themselves taking the grading exam.
They can be inspired by the good performances and encouraged by the not so good. If they see an average performance, they can think: "I can do better than that!"
Lilia Kopylova, Matt's partner, commented:
"After week one, I got a new man. He understands now what it is all about. I like to get results. It is up to us professionals to find out which buttons to press. Darren (her partner last year) was very competitive and very much of a show off. Matt is very different - he needs repetition. So we repeat things loads and loads of times to make sure he gets continuity."
Like any great coach, Lilia searched for what would motivate her partner and found it. Repetition does not sound very exciting but boring old repetition is what makes Matt Dawson achieve his best. Not every one is motivated by the same things.
To sum up: People are hugely motivated by other people. Their enthusiastic appreciation can lift you up and help you to do your best.
Belief in yourself will motivate you to take the necessary actions to achieve your goals but if you can't believe in yourself, show some belief in your mentor. Vincent Simone was doing a great job for Louisa and fully deserved her trust.
Do what you enjoy doing. You won't need someone else to motivate you to do that.
Erin Boag learned that Peter Schmeichel responded well to praise. Don't we all? The most useful advice I was ever given as a teacher was to give three words of praise for every word of criticism to my students. This formula worked like magic.
The praise should come first so that the student does not react badly and think that you have it in for him or her before you have a chance to praise the good things about them.
Recently one of my black belts sat with me at the examining table for my martial arts students. His comments at the end of the grading were full of praise for what they had achieved.
I knew immediately that these students would be highly motivated for weeks to come. One of them, who was graded by this black belt, said to me: "What a great grading!"
Be motivated, like Erin and Peter, by the desire to get things right. You don't need to achieve perfection but it feels great when you put in a decent performance. It feels good when you do anything well.
Erin also knows how to respond to criticism by just getting on with her next task and practicing hard for her next performance so that she can confound the critics.
Be inspired, like Matt Dawson, by the example of others and improve your own performance by copying them or be encouraged by the fact that you think you can do better than them.
Hopefully, you will find at least one motivational trigger in this article which you have not yet tried out or which you may wish to try again.
John Watson is an award winning teacher and 5th degree blackbelt martial arts instructor. He has written several ebooks on motivation and success topics. One of these can be found at http://www.motivationtoday.com/36_laws.php
You can also find motivational ebooks by authors like Stuart Goldsmith. Check out http://www.motivationtoday.com/the_midas_method.php
No comments:
Post a Comment