Question:  “I’m having a hard time staying motivated to stay on my diet, make appearances, and practice my interview.  Do you have any suggestions for staying motivated?”  Tiffany W., California

Valerie’s Answer: 

It can be very hard to stay positive when you’re trying to juggle multiple priorities.  Most pageant contestants go to school, have jobs, are involved in community service, and are busy with tons of other stuff!  There’s just no end to the number of things you’re trying to get done and sometimes it takes a lot of energy just to drag yourself through the day and you just don’t feel like doing your pageant prep.  That’s when practicing your Pageant Positive Attitude will come in handy.

Everyone knows that pageants are stressful: the long hours, changes in schedule, unexpected mishaps and unwelcome drama can really undo you as a contestant.  But, if you think about it the emotions that you feel under stress at the pageant are the same general emotions you may feel everyday – it’s just not happening in a competitive environment.  So when your calendar for the day is totally upended, when something doesn’t go exactly the way you expected it to at work, when you feel yourself slipping over to the Dark Side try to slip into your Pageant Positive.  Acknowledge the situation, evaluate your options, apply the Don’t Add Additional Drama Rule and move forward with the most positive attitude possible.  Contestants who are poised and confident under pressure at the pageant aren’t born that way – it’s a skill they’ve developed and practiced in their everyday life.  By combining a positive attitude with a creative problem solving approach you’ll be easily able to glide through any issues that develop during your pageant prep and the competition.

So when you start to feel yourself getting a little too stressed out and you feel like you are about to blow, go into your 3 Point PCM Plan:

1) Engage your Pageant Positive attitude

2) Go into Creative Problem Solving mode

3) Stay focused and Move Forward

You CAN do it!

Love and success,

Have a question for Valerie? Just send us an email at info@ValerieHayes.com and you might see the answer here!