Why Performance Anxiety is Unnecessary

We practice and then we have to play

We study and then we take the test

We prepare and then we make the presentation

I research, and then I write.

The point of contact is what I live for. In the morning when its me and the computer screen is when the “who I am” has to show up. I usually get a little cheat in that the ideas for my morning topic occur to me as I am going through the waking stage.

But that’s how I hope it will happen as I prepare. I have more anxiety about getting the proper preparation than about the writing event. When I write I want to drop into “flow”. I want the challenge to not over whelm my capabilities and to have all distractions disappear. I want to have an experience in which time melts away.

I also set up the conditions. I get up early before the world gets rolling. At 5 a.m. I sit at my window and rarely hear a sound. Because of my extremely healthy eating I am fully alert and prepared most every morning to write and then do my running. I write 360 days a year, so the process is familiar to me.

My day is oriented to my favorite events in the morning and then what I accomplish the rest of the day is either more mundane or bonus.

My daughter just got her dream job. As a college senior she was asked by a sports website to interview football players on camera (video) for the website. This is the career and job she has been dreaming about. She prepared by setting up a Twitter site that is fully into sports writers, events, and athletes. The person who hired her saw her twitter site.

Now she is anxious about her capabilities to perform and is having all the negative thoughts that go through our minds when a grade, a promotion, a contract, or a job is on the line.

Peak performance occurs in “flow” or while we are “in the zone”.  Preparation and practice are the precursors to performing in flow. If we are over prepared, we will be confident that our performance can be successful. Flow occurs when there is a challenge but it is not seen as being greater than our capabilities

If our passion is the performance of this particular activity then preparation and daily practice are more pleasurable. If it is our passion, then we don’t have to be forced to practice. If it is a job or not exciting to us, then practice and preparation are work.

The life lesson is to find or pursue the activities for which we have passion and then our life is in flow. The point of contact becomes the pay off and not the penalty.

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