Imagining the Worst – Quick Practice Tip

About Imagining the Worst – Quick Practice Tip:

  Hi, I'm Dr. David Wallace with myTalentForge.com's Quick Tip of the Week. And this tip has to do with peak performance, and conquering performance anxiety and stage fright. And this is an exercise that's been helpful for me as well as my students, and it's this... I want you to imagine the absolute worst case scenario that could happen with your performance. You see, oftentimes when we're nervous about a performance, it's really about the consequences that could happen. Potential negative consequences- not about the playing itself, for the most part. And so if you think through what's the worst possible thing- we screw up, we make a couple mistakes, we're embarrassed, someone looks at us funny, or says something negative, a critique rights a nasty review- those sorts of things. Yeah, those are bad, and they make us feel bad, and they're not things we want to have happen. But, in the long scheme of things, the people who have unconditional love for you, will still have unconditional love for you. Your dog will still greet you when you come home and be very excited! The work that you have will probably continue. And so, if you realize that the absolute worst case scenario is something you can live with, then it takes some of the pressure off. Conversely, I want you to think about what is the best possible scenario. Okay- you feel elated, you perform better than you've performed in your life, you get a great review, you get tons of compliments, and maybe in your wildest fantasy, there's a manager who says, "I want to manage your band". Or, "I want to see if I can get you a record contract" ... Do they still have record contracts? So in any case, my point is, the good stuff is still not going to make a difference on unconditional love, it's still not going to make a difference in your pets, and in most cases, it's not going to make a big change in your life. Now, granted, there are very critical situations and the audition is contingent on getting a job. Or sometimes there may be a great performance that turns into a big break. And so, because things get a little deeper, I'm going to refer you to myTalentForge.com's Peak Performance series where you get training on thermometer biofeedback, constructive rest, progressive relaxation, creative visualization, and all sorts of other techniques that will give you that extra edge, so that you can perform your best and get to your best case scenario.