Before the Show Starts
This article is the second of a series focusing on Musicians and Mental Health. This a partnership between CVSM and Thriving Thoughts Global.
Have you ever gone to a Taylor Swift concert thinking to yourself, “Wow, I wonder what all the critics are going to say about her performance, or I wonder what she will think about herself?” If you’re not a Swiftie, you might have thought that, but chances are you wouldn’t have gone to the concert either.
How about your own performance? Consider that recital, audition, presentation, or interview you’ve got coming up. Where’s your focus? What someone will think about you after it’s over?
If you’ve described yourself as having stage fright, chances are you’re concerned more about the outcome than the actual performance. And assuming you are a Swiftie, we bet you couldn’t care less about what her critics might say, or what even she might think about her performance. Instead, you would anticipate immersing yourself in the show, taking videos of her, and snapping selfies.
Let’s get back to you and your performance. Here are a few questions for you to answer if you have a habit of getting yourself worked up about what happens when the show’s over:
- Why are you performing?
Are you performing to impress yourself or someone else? Are you showing up to your performance because you love what you do or because someone is making you?
Consider your why. If you’re focused on what others might think of you or how they may critique you, your motivation is misplaced, and it will reflect in your performance. But if you are performing because you love __________ (fill in your craft or talent), then you will soak up the moments in the performance rather than the ones that have yet to happen.
- What’s the best that could happen?
Yes, we said “best.” If you’re caught up in catastrophe of the potential worst outcomes, we invite you to switch your attention from the worst thing that could happen in your performance to the best.
Will you blow your own socks off with how good you are? Will you get lost in the performance by transporting yourself to that moment when you were rehearsing alone and couldn’t believe your own ears about how much you’ve improved?
- Is this performance an opportunity for you to grow?
We rarely learn from doing something perfectly. We learn when we miss something or fail. Failure isn’t bad. In fact, failure is necessary – if you’re a person who wants to grow, that is.
So, if you must focus on the outcome and not the performance, wait to do it when the show’s over. Record yourself. Watch yourself. Honestly critique yourself. Ask for input from others.
You don’t want to stay the same. You want to improve. And to do that you’re going to have to be willing to grow. If you believe you’re supposed to be perfect in your performance, then you believe you have no more room to grow.
Evaluating your why, the best possible outcomes, and using your performance as opportunity for growth are essential to enjoying your performance, rather than trying to “get through it” and hope for the best.
Do it for you. Do it well. And be willing to do it and fail. Make it about the performance, not the outcome.
Take it from Taylor Swift herself, who in an award speech said,
“I really, really want everyone to know – especially young people – that the hundreds or thousands of dumb ideas that I’ve had are what led me to my good ideas. You have to give yourself permission to fail. I try as hard as I can not to fail…but I give myself permission to, and you should too, so go easy on yourselves and just make the right choices that feel right for you and someday someone one day might think you’ve been innovative.”
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