Mental Moment-98/2

One of my clients had an audition yesterday. Last week ended with his usual pre nerves and anxiety. We did some texting back and forth and moved him through it. By Sunday he said he was feeling good; ready to go.

After he made it through the first round he text me to let me know he made it through to the finals. He said there were a couple of things that didn’t go well but that it felt good and for the most part, it went well. He asked me what he should do for the next round (which were a couple of hours later). I said this is not the time to fix anything. This is the time to stay calm, relaxed and confident. Normally between rounds he would be thinking about how to fix what didn’t go well. (You can’t play any better [on game day]. Trying to fix things and play are not a good combination. It will totally confuse your brain. What works is to just do, stay focused, calm and relaxed.) Play the second round with the ease and confidence of the first round.

After the final round he text me to say he didn’t get it. I asked him how that round felt. He said ‘I felt like it went really well. Couple things I thought were awesome, everything felt really good. I walked out feeling about 98%. I definitely did not play timid.’  Knowing his pattern of beating himself up  I told him to hang on and focus on that. I told him that this was a huge change, hence a huge accomplishment for him and that not winning the audition doesn’t take away all the good stuff that happened.

His urge was to feel sorry for himself. I asked what he had to feel sorry about.  I continued, you can live in the 98% or you can live in your usual 2%. It’s your choice. New path or old? If you decide to choose the new path, the 98%, you get to end this chapter in a better way and start practicing and preparing a different person.

He chose the new path, at least for part of the day. I suggest that you (consciously) choose your 98%.

Happy 4th of July!

Dr. Michelle

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