Want tips for how to stay calm and cool before a concert? Transform your fear.
Strong emotions get tied to the body’s physical responses:
- Thudding heart
- Cold hands
- Shaking limbs
- Dilated eyes
- Upset stomach
This results from your body’s fight or flight response. Namely, in an emergency your heart beats faster to provide more blood to your muscles. Your hands grow cold because your body draws blood from your limbs in case you get injured. Your eyes dilate so you can see better, etc.
However, when you perform, you won’t be fighting or fleeing for your life. Interpreted the wrong way, these responses get in the way of performing.
Try this: Don’t say, “I feel scared.” Instead, say, “I feel excited!”
This reinterprets your strong physical responses from the emotion of fear to one of excitement. For example, when you climb a high rock wall, you can feel either excited or terrified. If you can tip your feelings over into the excited category, you’ll perform much better.