Creating your own catch phrases can motivate with a minimum number of words.

Over our years of teaching we have heard students say over and over 'I can’t do that!' or 'That’s too hard, I will never be able to do that.' Sound at all familiar? I am sure it does. Many years ago we decided to make 'I can’t' an expression that is not to be spoken in our building.

In moments of frustration it does get blurted out, but when a student slips and says 'I can’t' a hush falls over the class as everyone knows that it is not allowed. We tell our students that if you say it and you think it, that is what will happen and that is why they will struggle with anything they are facing that is causing them difficulty.

 As the matter of fact we have replaced 'I can’t' with the phrase 'It’s all about the M.I.W.'

When a student is having an issue with a technical step or is struggling to make something work for them, we say 'M.I.W., baby, M.I.W.!'

Make It Work!

If we can teach our students this one lesson and life-enriching skill, imagine how much better a place the world would be!

As a matter of fact, we should all take this approach to everything that we do. If we want our students to buy into this philosophy, then we must live it, too!

I like to give my students positive reinforcement whenever possible. But I like to do it with a phrase or saying that they can buy into and say to themselves until they believe it to be true. 'It’s all about the M.I.W.' is one that we use and everyone in the studio knows what it means. It is amazing how one line or phrase can bring the best out of people.

Here are some other phrases from some great thinkers that we have found to be useful.

'You have two choices: You can say 'I can' or 'I can’t,' and either way you are right!

'You have all the knowledge, technique and style right now to be as good as you want to be.'

'I can, I must, I will!'

'It’s not your aptitude that determines your altitude—it’s your attitude.'

One of the main goals at our school is to instill a can-do attitude that will serve our students for a lifetime. Steps, technique, choreography and everything else will only reach its highest potential in students who really have a 'make it work' mindset. I like to say that if you can only do a pirouette when you are on perfect balance than you might as well forget about ever mastering the art of turning. Sometimes you just have to make it work even if things are not perfect. Isn’t that one of the secrets of life?

Think about all the great inventions that were made by people who had a 'never say die' attitude. I like to remind my students that Thomas Edison tried 1000 times before he got it right with the light bulb. So I try to get my students not to give up on a certain step just because after working on it for a while they still haven’t gotten it. I will say, 'Have you tried it 1000 times yet? No? OK, then don’t tell me you can’t do it.' And, to continue the Edison analogy, I will always remind them to go back to the beginning—the 'drawing board,' so to speak. The most advanced steps and technique have basic movements and actions that need to be refined if a student is having trouble with the more advanced steps.

Let me leave you with an example of how M.I.W. works well beyond the classroom into the real world. A friend of ours called us to say he used our M.I.W. phrase in an interview. When asked what he would do if a certain issue arose during a critical part of a task, our friend said to the interviewer, 'Hey, it’s all about the M.I.W.'  When he was asked, What’s that?, our friend answered, 'It’s all about making it work!' The prospective employer laughed and said he loved the response. Our friend was offered the job the next day.

Feel free to make it a phrase at your studio and watch your students GROW!