It’s that time of year when cheerleaders are either getting ready for a big cheerleading competition or they have just been in a competition. Either way, the fact is that some of you will bring home a trophy and some of you won’t. 

How do you handle not winning?  Part of the answer lies in how you define “winning” in the first place. 

Pro athletes and Olympic athletes focus on Process or Performance goals more than Outcome goals and this helps them manage the disappointment of not being in the winner’s circle. 

They know, and you should, too, that they ultimately have no control over the outcome of anything!  

For cheerleading, you cannot control who your competitors are or how talented and skilled they are compared to you; you cannot control who on your squad might be ill or injured;  and you cannot control the skill and performance of every person in your squad.  All of these factors, and more, affect the outcome of a competition event. 

Do you see if you focus on Outcome only that you are likely to be disappointed? 

So why not focus on Process or Performance goals instead? 

Here’s an example: Way before the competition, consider what your personal cheerleading goals are in relation to the competition routine.   Be specific and detailed.  Perhaps you want to improve your inverted back tuck sequence. Maybe you want to refine some other stunt.  And there will be other goals such as improving communication with a stunting partner or maintaining focus, achieving a clean landing, etc.  

These are all Performance goals that you have control over since you are the one investing the time and effort in achieving the goals. Keep track of how you are progressing.  At the time of competition then, your focus will be on executing your part of the performance as well as you can.  Your goal then is not to win per se (that’s an outcome goal) but rather, to excel in performing your part of the routine.  

Assuming your hard work pays off and you have succeeded in improving the things you wanted to, you can, at the very least, take pleasure in accomplishing that goal. 

Of course I realize that there is disappointment in not placing and I’m not trying to make light of that.  At the same time, you can learn to minimize the pain of losing or not placing if you focus on Performance goals rather than Outcome goals. 

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