One of the toughest questions dancers can ask of themselves is “What should my goals be for this year?” Deciding whether to perform, teach, or attain a certain level in class can influence significantly what level is ultimately reached. In a recent post, various ways of increasing motivation through a well-planned training program were discussed. The present post will focus on how a sound goal-setting program can be used to enhance motivation and improve performance.
Often, dancers’ level of success will depend upon the type and difficulty of their goals. So what kind of goals should be set? First, goals should be realistic and challenging, yet attainable. That is, goals should be able to be reached only with hard work and commitment. Goals that are too low inhibit motivation because they can be accomplished with little effort. Goals that are too high also have little motivational value because they are too difficult to reach, so it will not motivate dancers to work hard to achieve them. As a result, goals should be reinforcing and should encourage effort and commitment. Goals should also be flexible, i.e., able to be raised or lowered as new information becomes available, such as an unexpected improvement or a role that exceeds initial goals.
There are three primary types of goals: long-term , short-term, and measurable objective goals. Long-term goals such as “I want to become a member of the American Ballet Theatre” should not be emphasized. They are too distant to be judged realistically. Long-term goals should be maintained in the back of the mind and brought forward as the goal approaches year by year.
Short-term goals involve yearly aspirations, what dancers want to accomplish during the upcoming year. Short-term goals are the foundation upon which the goal-setting program is built. There are several things that must be considered in developing goals.
First, how committed dancers are. Given the amount of time and effort dancers are willing to expend, what goals are reasonable? Second, do dancers have the opportunity to attain their goals? These opportunities include dance training facilities, adequate instruction, and sufficient time and finances for training and travel. For example, it would be unrealistic, given his or her present opportunities, for a 17-year-old taking ballet twice a week to have a goal of joining the New York City Ballet Company.
Third, the most difficult factor to measure in developing goals is a dancer’s potential. Even the best teachers can not always judge how good a performer a student will be in the future. Perhaps the best method for gauging a dancer’s potential is to look at results over the past several years, chart the rate of improvement, then project it into the future. This method, however, does not account for the late bloomer.
With these factors considered, it is possible to make a variety of measurable objective goals which, in turn, will help dancers attain their short-term goals. Life-style goals include eating, sleeping, work, and social habits. Training goals describe the type, amount, and intensity of the dance classes. Technical goals involve the new skills that must be acquired to reach the short-term goals. Lastly, performance goals will specify desired levels to be reached during the course of the year progressing toward the short-term goal. Once these various goals have been established, they may be used to increase motivation and commitment through the use of a written contract.
Goal-setting contracts are organized statements of a dancer’s goals and the specific means of attaining them. Research suggests that the following guidelines are necessary for these contracts to be most effective: (1) The contract must be written by the dancer. Teachers may help in setting realistic goals, but the goals must be accepted by the dancer. (2) The goals must be specific and explicit. Concrete statements such as “I want to perform in the school concert” or “I want to master an arabesque”, are important. (3) The goals stated in the contract should be made public among the dancer’s peers, teachers, and other significant individuals.
So far we have described all of the aspects of a goal-setting program. Now let’s put it together into a cohesive formula that will enable dancers to design, organize, and write their own goal-setting contract. The following contract has been useful to dancers we have worked with:
1) Specify short-term goals. Dancers can ask themselves, “where do I want to be in my dancing one year from now”? Dancers should be sure to consider their level of commitment, their opportunities, and, most importantly, their potential. These goals should pertain to issues such as desired roles and advancement in a school or company.
2) List the steps that must be made during the course of the year that are crucial for attaining the short-term goals. These steps should refer to goals such as a particular role that is desired or acceptance into a more advanced class. It must be emphasized that goals are reached by a step-by-step progression. One goal builds on the previous ones in small steps, not unrealistically large jumps.
3) Once the performance goals are determined, dancers, along with the assistance of their teachers, should conduct what is called a task analysis. That is, determine what must be done to attain these goals. What life-style, training, and technical goals should be set to accomplish the task? Note that these goals should be specific and measurable.
4) The goals should be written down and signed by the dancer and his or her teacher.
5) Teachers may want to hold class meetings to enable the dancers to discuss their goals among themselves, or have the dancers post their contracts for others to see. An excellent motivational device that could result from this is to take two or three dancers at a similar ability level and with similar goals and have them work together.
6) Another useful tool for maintaining commitment is the training diary. Such records keep track of sleeping and eating habits, and technical improvement. The logs can act as reinforcers as progress toward the life-style, training, and technical goals is made.
Finally, we would like to point out a few precautions in undertaking a goal-setting program. First, reaching goals should not be black and white, win or lose. Rather, the degree of attainment should be emphasized. Goals are not always reached, but in almost all of the cases there is improvement and deriving satisfaction from those gains is essential to continued motivation. Second, the effort involved in striving for a goal is as important as reaching it. Personal and artistic growth comes more from the effort than the attainment. Teachers should constantly stress this notion. Third, not accomplishing goals should be viewed objectively, i.e., as information to be used for future goal-setting. An important aspect of a good goal-setting program is that the goals are flexible and can be modified (either up or down). Goals, and progress toward them, should be re-evaluated on a regular basis. As goals are re-evaluated, the causes for not reaching them should be sought. It may be that a change in training or technical goals will make it possible to attain goals that were unreachable initially.
Ultimately, a sound goal-setting program will enhance motivation and produce better performance which, in turn, should reinforce the habits and routines first adopted in the program. Thus, the ideal outcome to such a program is a spiraling effect of greater motivation, improved results and increasingly higher goals.
