Your expectations lay the groundwork for how positive your national pageant experience will be. Today I share 5 tips that will help you at your national pageant.
- Get plenty of rest before you leave for the pageant. The schedule is packed and you will get very little sleep at the pageant. Any FUN events should be done either before or after the actual competition. Once the competition schedule begins, it’s WORK time. If the whole family goes, get them their own room or have something for them to do off site so you can get ready in your own space. Pageants are VERY stressful. When there are too many people under foot, drama will happen.
- The most positive and ideal situation is to have only ONE of your children compete at a time. All three of my daughters competed at the MAC national pageant last week and I will never do all three at the same time again. It’s too overwhelming and not enjoyable. I’ve now done all combinations at all levels of competition and I can firmly say that one at a time is the best way to go.
- You will need support a team. Surround yourself with people who work well under pressure, keep you in a positive state of mind, and who are punctual, detail oriented and organized. Know your weaknesses and enlist the help of those who have the strengths you need to keep things moving in the right direction. Avoid situations and people who push your buttons. The more self reliant you are, the better; but you can’t do everything alone.
- Expect the unexpected. Expect to be surprised by people’s behavior and who shows up at the national competition. If you know ahead of time that someone or something will catch you off guard, you’ll be expecting it.
- Expect to feel every human emotion possible during pageant week. The key is not to let the feelings define who you are or paralyze you. If an emotion is taking you to a negative place, you need to have a plan as to how you can flip the situation quickly. This might mean physically leaving the situation or mentally escaping to your “happy” place.
To all of you who have worked with me one-on-one, attended my boot camps, received my interview cards and used the abundant information I freely give in my newsletters, I congratulate each and every one of you on your accomplishments this past week at the national MAC and NAM pageants.
My focus has and always will be on the positive growth process leading up to the pageant. What you have learned in that process is applied not only to the pageant; but in your life after the crowning moment.
It takes a whole team of people to help you succeed; but at the end of the pageant, it is YOU who has won the honor—not your stylist nor one of your many coaches. YOU.
But remember to give proper credit where credit is due, be humble in your attitude, and be respectful in your words and actions. Forget no one who has helped you along the way.
“The more credit you give away, the more will come back to you. The more you help others, the more they will want to help you.” Brian Tracy
