As a private educator whose clientele sometimes includes children, there are a few controversial matters that arise from time to time among parents. For example:
“Is it good to have your children involved in competitions, such as singing contests or speaking contests?”
My answer is a resounding “yes” because we are preparing today’s children for life as adults. We all know that the spirit of competition is alive and well in grown-up world. Let’s not shrink back from the truth.
Now, on behalf of the protective parents, and keeping with my own philosophy, I will say that there is a time and a place for everything. Nobody, at any age, should be thrust into a den of wolves without a fair chance to get ready first. I’m all about fairness and timing.
It’s still okay, and a very good idea, to have a goal of preparing for a contest, no matter what level you are at.
World famous management expert, Peter Drucker, made an important statement to the effect “That which is measured, improves.”
Some things are harder to measure than others. Examples like “artistic interpretation” or “expressiveness” are subjective and complex. That doesn’t mean that we just step off the “measurement” bus, though. Even these elements are valuable and important. They deserve to be evaluated to the best of our ability.
Competitions are an excellent way to get valuable feedback about our artistic development. We can also see where our peers are going with their own creativity, which can be very inspiring.
I’m all for competitions. I believe that every one of us should constantly compete with ourselves to be better than we were last week.
In fact, the idea of “someone to chase” and competing with “my hero” were maybe never more excellently described than by Matthew McConaughey in his 2014 Oscar acceptance speech, which everybody should see. (To view it, click on the pink link above in this paragraph.)
If you’d like to get a free measurement tool to see where you stand in the areas of talent and skill that matter in today’s competitive world, click here –> Pizazz-Sessment
It takes courage, sometimes, to step on the scale and get a dose of reality. Measuring doesn’t have to be threatening, however, when it is used as a starting point for launching into our own fullness of greatness!!!
“Get assessed today. Measure your way on the journey to your highest level of excellence!”
— Laura Lobo
