Category Archives: Performing

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The Battle of Mindsets: Negative vs. Positive Thinking for Enhancing Performance

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the ultimate showdown: the battle of mindsets!

In one corner, we have negative thinking, with its gloomy clouds and self-doubt.

And in the other corner, we have positive thinking, radiating boundless possibilities.

Today, I’d like to explore how these particular mindsets impact your performance and why positive thinking and self-talk reigns supreme when it comes to enhancing your abilities.

Negative Thinking (The Obstacle to Overcome): Negative thinking can be like a heavy anchor weighing us down. It amplifies our fears, focuses on limitations, and magnifies failures. When we succumb to negative thinking, our confidence takes a hit, motivation dwindles, and our performance suffers. It becomes a cycle of self-doubt and self-sabotage that holds us back from reaching our true potential.

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Pre-Performance Routines for Powerful Presentations

Imagine stepping onto a stage, in front of a Zoom meeting, in a conference room at work or in front of a group at your Church, feeling calm, confident, and fully prepared to captivate your audience with your words.

Sounds like a dream, right?

Well, with the help of pre-performance routines, you can turn this dream into a reality.

In this post, I’ll explore the incredible power of pre-performance routines for speakers, and performers in general, and provide you with 4 valuable tips to help you create a relaxed and impactful speaking experience that will leave your audience inspired.

  • Finding Your Center – Mindset Matters: Preparing for a speech goes beyond simply practicing your lines or rehearsing for a performance. It’s about cultivating the right mindset. Incorporating mindfulness techniques into your pre-performance routine can help you find your center and reduce anxiety. Take a few moments before your presentation to close your eyes, breathe deeply, and focus on the present moment. Intentionally focus on being as centered as possible prior to performing. This practice will calm your nerves and allow you to approach your speech with a relaxed and confident mindset.
  • Physical Warm-Up – Energize Your Body: Engaging in physical warm-up exercises is not just for athletes. As a speaker, your body language and vocal delivery are essential aspects of your performance. Incorporate gentle stretches, shoulder rolls, and deep breathing exercises into your routine to release tension and energize your body. This physical warm-up will not only relax your muscles but also help you project your voice more effectively and maintain a poised and confident posture throughout your presentation.
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10 Tips to Confidence Without Anxiety in Any Social Situation

Do social situations sometimes create anxiety and self-doubt, making it challenging for you to project confidence when feeling stressed?

If so, by implementing specific strategies and adopting a positive mindset, you can start the journey to overcome fear and project confidence in any social setting.

Here are ten practical tips to help you project self-confidence when feeling anxious in a social situation.

  • Challenge Negative Thoughts: As I have shared previously, anxiety most often arises from negative self-talk and distorted ways of thinking. Start by recognizing and challenging these negative thoughts. Replace them with positive affirmations and realistic perspectives. Remind yourself of your strengths and capabilities, boosting your confidence from within.
  • Practice Deep Breathing: Deep breathing is a powerful technique to manage anxiety in social situations. Take slow, deep breaths in through your nose and exhale through your mouth. This simple practice helps calm your nervous system, reducing anxiety and allowing you to project confidence.
  • Visualize Success: Visualization is a technique used by athletes and performers to enhance performance and confidence. Before a social event, take a few moments to visualize yourself confidently engaging in conversations, speaking with ease, and enjoying yourself. This mental rehearsal prepares your mind for success, reducing anxiety and boosting confidence.
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Unmasking Imposter Syndrome: How Overcoming Self-Doubt Enhances Performance (and Life)

Have you ever had that nagging feeling that you don’t deserve the success and recognition you’ve earned? Maybe you constantly worry that you’ll be exposed as a fraud, despite evidence of your competence?

If you can relate to these thoughts, then you may be battling a little something called imposter syndrome.

In my coaching work, this is often the foundational obstacle to not achieving one’s absolute best in any performance, or life, situation.

As I have been working on a new Master Class regarding overcoming imposter syndrome, I thought I would share a few thoughts about what imposter syndrome is all about, how it affects your performance, and most importantly, how you can conquer self-doubt to take your performance to new heights.

So, what exactly is imposter syndrome?

Well, picture this: You achieve something amazing—an impressive promotion, an award, create a new piece of art or maybe even begin to launch your own successful business. But deep down, you can’t help but question if you truly deserve it.

You might brush off your achievements as mere luck or convince yourself that others are just overestimating your abilities. That, my friend, is imposter syndrome in a nutshell. It’s like wearing a mask, pretending to be someone you’re not, all while fearing that you’ll be unmasked as a fraud!

Imposter syndrome can also mess with your performance. Picture a talented musician who refuses to perform in public because they believe their skills are subpar. Or imagine a brilliant student who downplays their achievements, thinking they got into that top-tier university by sheer chance. When you doubt yourself and attribute your success to external factors, it’s like slamming on the brakes of your potential. You become stuck in a cycle of self-sabotage, afraid to take risks, try new things, or even acknowledge your worth.

It’s like having a front-row seat to your own performance downfall.

Thankfully, there’s hope! You can break free from the clutches of imposter syndrome and unleash your full potential.

Here are some tried-and-true strategies to help you overcome self-doubt and enhance your performance:

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Step Out of Fear and Into Joy!

Fear

Your mind is amazing! It is in the full time business of keeping you safe. It reminds you to be careful. It warns you of not acting too foolish. It points out everything that could possibly go wrong if you take too much of a risk.

It absolutely LOVES to hold you back from anything and everything that might hurt you physically, emotionally or in your relationships.

It’s on the job 24/7, running like clockwork.

As great as that may sound, there is a problem with this – there is rarely a good reason for living a life of safety. In fact, as a newborn you came into the world absolutely fearless! Research tells us that the only 2 universal fears that everyone on the planet arrives with is the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. This means that every fear you possess as adults, and that your mind carefully guards against, is LEARNED.

Negative experiences, painful relationships and distorted teaching all led to the creation of your own unique set of fears, fears that were actually non-existent at birth.

As a child, you accumulated fear after fear which, with each new fear quietly growing within you, led to the disappearance of that outgoing, joyful, fearless part of you that made life so exciting and fun.

Before learning to be afraid and anxious, however, every day and moment was a possibility of experiencing something new and wonderful. If it went well, we loved it! If it went poorly, who cared, because the next thing in our life might be even more wonderful!

Yet, I wonder what happened to that bright-eyed, risk-taking explorer. Where is that creator and adventurer that lived each moment to the fullest? Did the fears that you learned permanently bury, under layers of cautiousness and anxiety, your potential for an exciting life?

Well, I have great news,

You never, EVER lose that part of yourself.

In spite of the anxiety you feel, the things you anticipate, and the worries you obsess over, somewhere, sometimes way, way down, is that original, loving, caring ‘wild and crazy’ child inside of you who really knows how to play and live.

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The Power of Mindfulness and Presence in Enhancing Performance

The art of performance is not just about mastering the technical aspects of a particular skill or craft. It is also about your connecting with the audience, creating a bond that goes beyond the mere exchange of information or entertainment.

I have discovered that one of the most important elements of this kind of a successful performance is the power of presence. Being present in the moment, fully engaged with the task at hand, can make all the difference between a mediocre performance and a truly unforgettable one.

Presence has been described as a state of mind where an individual is fully engaged with the present moment. It is a state of being where you are not preoccupied with past events or future concerns, but rather are completely focused on the present.

For performers, being present means being fully engaged with your craft, whether it be singing, dancing, acting, speaking to an audience or any other form of artistic expression. The power of presence in a performance can help you connect with your audience on a deeper level, create a more memorable experience for everyone involved, and even help you overcome anxiety and stage fright.

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Are You Living in the Future or the Past?

As a performance and anxiety coach, I have found that the majority of my clients, when we begin working together, mentally live in 1 of 2 places.

The most common place is in the future, in the land of ‘What If ?’ – a place where they say things such as,

”What if my business presentation goes bad”

“What if I ask her on a date and she says “No”?

“What if no one wants to purchase my art”

“What if my audition (or interview) doesn’t go well and I’m rejected.

There is, however, another land that I find my clients living in, and that is in the past, the land of ‘If only…’

“If only I had started my business earlier”

“If only I had more self-confidence”

“If only my family wasn’t so dysfunctional”

“If only I wasn’t rejected.”

“If only … If only”

The land of ‘What if’ is based in Anxious Anticipation while the land of ‘If only’ is based in Regret.

Unfortunately, Anticipation and Regret keep us stuck in fear, sadness and victimhood while draining the precious energy necessary to experiencing an amazing life.