How I Prepared for Miss Colorado USA- Part 1
I love sharing my story and pageant journey because nothing about my journey has been easy. It’s been a lot of trial and error, but good news for you, I have done the work and now can share with you exactly what I did. (This is going to be multiple part blog post because I want to get very specific)
First and most importantly, you need to decide you are competing, and fully commit. Commit to being the best version of you, and believe in yourself. (Read that again). Commit to being the best version of you, and believe in yourself. This is so important, you HAVE to believe in yourself wholeheartedly , sure you will have doubts, but push those right out of your head because that’s not going to help you.
Being committed to competing gives you time to focus on sponsors and different areas of the competition in which I will do a deep dive. Pageants can be expensive, but if you want to put in the effort you can get your pageant sponsored. I never paid for my entry for Miss Colorado USA, and I competed five times! That means I went into businesses with my smiling face, my ‘elevator pitch’ and asked them to sponsor me. Sure, it’s a little awkward at first asking people for money, but trust me learn this now. This will help you in the future when you want to negotiate for a raise.(:
Now you’re committed, you’re believing in yourself, and can now can focus on the different aspects of the competition. Let’s start with mental preparation AKA interview preparation.
I value mental prep so much. I took competing in pageants as a wonderful opportunity to work on myself as a person, and get to know myself. I journaled everyday (and still do), I don’t really journal about my day, but I journal about my likes/dislikes/favorites, and why I feel that way. It’s great to know the simple questions about yourself because it is an easy talking point, and an easy way to connect. You’re not looking for the perfect answer to anything, you’re owning your different. #ownyourdifferent
In this same journal, I also wrote affirmations, and Ya’ll I swear on affirmations and manifesting what you want. I wrote things down that I want, and how I wanted to feel as if they already happened. For example, I am fit (even though somedays I feel like blob), if you tell yourself something enough you believe it. I wrote for years in a journal “I am Madison Dorenkamp, Miss Colorado USA”, and now that’s a true statement. I believed it so much, that I manifested it right into reality, with a lot of hard work of course.
Another aspect of my mental prep was my faith. I read a daily prayer book, catholic prayers, and just overall focused on my connection with God. (This might not be your thing, and that’s totally fine) When I competed, especially this last time, I knew that whatever was meant to happen would happen, I put faith in me to do my best, and forget the rest.
My last main factor of mental preparation was not to get caught up in comparison…. we all know Instagram is a highlight reel so don’t end up on some other girl’s feed and feel like you’re not good enough. And in case no one told you today or you’re having some doubts as you read this… YOU ARE ENOUGH AND YOU ARE WORTHY.
I hope this helps you as begin to prepare to compete or even decide to compete. I will be doing a few more blog posts about the other aspects of competing. Please feel free to reach out.
XO,
Madison
