Start here

Dancer Mindset: Where to Start

Better dancing starts with the way you think, and this page is for any dancer who wants their mindset working for them, not against them. I've grouped my mindset lessons into three parts: goals and motivation, then confidence and beliefs, then performance and expression. Work through them in order, and come back to any step whenever you need it.

Part 1

Goals and motivation

Why you dance, the decision that moves you forward and what keeps you going for the long term.

Step 1 · Intention

Not Motivated to Dance? Start With Your Intention

When you're not motivated to dance, start with your intention: ask yourself what you want from your dancing and why you're turning up, then choose to be a victor, not a victim of circumstance.

Watch the lesson

Step 2 · Decision

The One Decision That Will Solve Your Dance Problems

Make a resolute decision about what you want from your dancing and burn your ships so there's no going back, then back it up with action every single day.

Watch the lesson

Step 3 · Purpose

Why Passion Is for Amateurs

Passion gets you into the studio but burns out fast, so find the purpose that keeps you turning up: passion to begin, purpose to maintain, obsession to keep going.

Watch the lesson

Part 2

Confidence and beliefs

How your beliefs, self-image and self-talk shape the way you dance, and how to stop fear and perfectionism holding you back.

Step 4 · Beliefs

Your Beliefs Shape Your Dancing

You'll never outperform your belief system, so identify the beliefs behind your results, ask whether they serve you and use pattern breaking to replace them.

Watch the lesson

Step 5 · Self-image

Act As If: How Self-Image Shapes Your Dancing

The dancer you want to be starts in your mind: see yourself as that dancer, carry yourself like them before your skills have caught up, then reverse engineer the skills you need.

Watch the lesson

Step 6 · Self-talk

3 Questions to Ask Yourself to Stay Motivated and Happy

Every time you dance, ask what you did well, what didn't work and what you can do better, so you critique your dancing without criticising yourself.

Watch the lesson

Step 7 · Fear of judgement

If You Couldn't Fail, How Would You Dance?

The fear of ridicule and judgement holds more dancers back than anything else, so give it your all every time you step on the floor and see failure as nature's way of teaching you.

Watch the lesson

Step 8 · Perfectionism

5 Secrets to Overcoming Perfectionism in Dancing

Keep the pursuit of perfection that drives you to train, but drop the need to be perfect before you act, because nothing can be perfected until you release it.

Watch the lesson

Part 3

Performance and expression

Finding your own style, expressing yourself and connecting to the music.

Step 9 · Your own style

E.M.C. Mindset Framework: The Mindset of High Performers

Instead of envying or imitating other dancers, emulate the habits of dancers who already have what you want, model the specific things you see them do, then create your own style.

Watch the lesson

Step 10 · Expression

How to Express Yourself Better When You Dance

Use your head to learn and your heart to dance: think all you want about technique in lessons and practice, then move into your heart when the music comes on.

Watch the lesson

Step 11 · Music

Hearing Music vs Listening to Music When You Dance

You hear music with your ears but listen to it with your emotions, so fix your technique in practice, then switch the thinking off when the music comes on and let it move you.

Watch the lesson

Development vs Evolution and Artistic Expression, a guest article on Ballroom Mastery

Step 12 · Guest lesson

Guest: Development vs Evolution and Artistic Expression

Ballroom Mastery member Ulrich Verstraete explains why evolution in Ballroom dancing is not always development, and how understanding why our techniques exist gives you the freedom to find where technical excellence and personal artistic truth meet.

Read the guest lesson