Overthinking That Audition? Here's How You Can Stay Calm Before Your Performance
Jun 04, 2024
Eleanor
We've all been there. OVERTHINKING that audition. It's totally normal! But how do we stay calm and not overthink? By staying in the moment.
Easier said than done, I know. So today we are diving into simple ways for you to stay in the moment and keep calm before that audition or performance.
We've all been there. OVERTHINKING that audition. It's totally normal! But how do we stay calm and not overthink? By staying in the moment.
Easier said than done, I know. So today we are diving into simple ways for you to stay in the moment and keep calm before that audition or performance.
It is a month before your audition, maybe even exactly, and you're nervous about it, and maybe you just can't stop thinking about the fact that there's a month between you and the audition. Now there's two weeks between you and the audition and you can't stop thinking about the fact that there's only two weeks. And now there's only one week, and now it's only four days and, oh my gosh, it's tomorrow. What the heck? And all you've been doing is thinking about it during this whole time. Do you know that feeling? Because I know that feeling, we all know that feeling Just overthinking before your audition, and what does it do? It makes you even more stressed. No one wants that.
Speaker 1:
Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast. I'm your host, eleanor, and after countless practice sessions, a ton of broken reeds and seven different music school acceptances in three different countries, I have learned a thing or two about savoring your practicing, becoming your best practice companion and actively working towards your musical goals, and I want to share this with you because I want you to become your best musical self. Are you with me on this? Let's get started. Hey, there, and welcome. This audition experience is very familiar for all of us to feel, and I recently did an audition and the week leading up to it, all I could do was think about it. So today we are diving into something that has helped me, at least, and many other musicians, to work through audition, stress and perform our best.
Speaker 1:
What is that, you might ask? Staying in the moment. Now, everyone says stay in the moment, stay in the moment, but that can sometimes seem really impossible. So today we're going to talk about how you can actually make it possible for you let's dive in possible for you, let's dive in. The first thing to staying in the moment is practicing. Staying in the moment. Before you actually need to just like practicing your instruments. You know when you practice your instrument, when it's time to perform or when it's time to, you know, audition, you're ready. So when it's time to stay in the moment because you really need to stay in the moment if you have kind of practiced it beforehand and you know how, then that is going to really help you in that moment. So, for example, for me, I do a five minute meditation in the morning and I center my breath every morning just for five minutes, and sometimes it's good, sometimes it doesn't go as good, but it is practice, so that when I am in a high stress situation, I can go back and center my breath, because that feels familiar, because I do it every day. So what does that look like for you? Whether that is doing five minutes of just centering your breath, just breathing in and out like a little meditation. Whether it is noticing things around you maybe when you go for a walk or whatever you do in your day, and you just notice things and stay in the moment. Doing that before you actually need to is so beneficial so that then, when you actually need to, you can do it very easily.
Speaker 1:
The next thing to think about is when, coming up to an audition, recenter your mind and observe the now. So you've maybe done some practice with being in the moment, but when it is actually time, think about the now. I remember when I did this and it really helped me when I was doing my audition for the Cleveland Institute of Music. It was the night before. I remember this very vividly. It was the night before and I kept overthinking and worrying because it was early the next day, so I was really thinking about it. You know how will it go, what will it do? You know all of these things?
Speaker 1:
So, instead of continuing to do that every time that happened, I asked myself a simple question what is happening now? So, for instance, I am eating dinner now, I am reading a book now, I am looking outside of the window. What is happening right now? I hear birds outside, I see people outside, the sun is setting, there's a car that's blue outside and I really like that color, whatever it is. Just observe the now. My oatmeal is hot, the shower is cold, whatever. It is literally the tiny, mundane things in the moment. Just focus on them to help you stay in the moment. Now, how can you do this in your life? Like, right now, observe where you are and what is happening right now. Like, right now, you know we are in this together. I am in your ear. So, right now, wherever you are, what's happening? Are you outside? Are you inside? Can you hear something other than me? Whatever it is, just take a moment and notice it. Right there you go. You've done it, you've done the first step. Now do that more often. Now you can use this and you can take it when you are doing an audition. So really, really, really being in the moment, asking yourself what is happening right now.
Speaker 1:
Let's take a quick break from working through audition stress and chat a little bit about musical inspiration. You know that you and I both need a little musical motivation. Sometimes we all do. That is why there is the Spring Roundup, full of fun and inspiring pieces of musical motivation that goes right in your inbox. This is perfect for that little boost of motivation we all need From inspiring Instagram reels from musicians to your new favorite practice pencils, all the way to a podcast recommendation that will inspire you to listen to more music insightfully, in a new way. If this sounds like something you need because, let's be honest, we all need this sign up and get it in your inbox. Check the show notes below.
Speaker 1:
The last thing that we can do for staying in the moment is using phrases to calm yourself down. Now we already have the phrase what is happening right now from our last little bit, but these phrases are a little different. They kind of recenter us in a different way. So my favorite phrase is I don't need to fix anything. This phrase I use all the time because I have this tendency to feel like something's wrong and I need to fix it, especially when I have an audition coming up. But I like to say to myself I don't need to fix anything, nothing is wrong. We're just doing this, it's going great and nothing's wrong. I don't need to fix anything.
Speaker 1:
Another thing you can say is I am ready to perform the best I can Now. With this, we might be thinking well, eleanor, that is talking about the future. You're saying you know, you're saying stay in the moment, but you're focusing on the performance. That's not now. What we're really focusing on with this phrase is the now, the fact that I am ready now. I am ready now to perform the best I can. So it's already the now. I am ready now, and then you can also, you know, put maybe like what is happening right now.
Speaker 1:
On top of that, it is the judge's responsibility to decide whether I get in or not, or whether I succeed or not, not mine. This is a huge revelation that I had, because, especially when I want to do well in something, a lot of times my brain and I'm sure you can feel this too we tend to think about okay, well, if I do this, I might have a better chance at winning, or if I do this, I might have a better chance at doing this, but that is not your responsibility. That's the judge's responsibility. Your responsibility is to go in there and play your best and have fun and really, you know, just have fun. So take that responsibility off Right, because it's not yours. Your responsibility is to play the best you can and you can come up with whatever phrases you need. So, if you think about it, a way to come up with those phrases is to think, okay, what am I stressing about, what am I worrying about? And then creating a phrase to counteract that. And then every time you feel that stress or that worry, then you just say the phrase so for me, I don't need to fix anything, is a really good phrase for that. And then you can add the what is going on right now on top of that to really complete it and so you can stay in the moment.
Speaker 1:
Let's do a bit of a recap. The first thing is practice staying in the moment before you actually need to. Just like practicing staying in the moment before you actually need to is really helpful, so that then, when you need to, it will be easier to stay in the moment. The second thing is, when coming up to an audition, recenter your mind and observe the now. So ask the question what is going on right now, whether that is a car is going by or some birds are flying in the sky, or I am eating dinner or whatever it is. Observe the now, the really tiny, mundane things.
Speaker 1:
And the last thing is use phrases to calm yourself down, whether it is I am ready to perform the best that I can, or it's the judge's responsibility to decide whether I get in or not not mine or one of my favorites.
Speaker 1:
I don't need to fix anything which is really kind of specific. But that kind of goes into the fact that you can create whatever phrase you want to help you Make the most specific phrase right, and then top that off with what is going on right now, and then you can stay in the moment. It's great, it's great right now, and then you can stay in the moment. It's great, it's great, all right, that's about it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. As always, all of the things to do with this episode will be in the show notes, from the blog post that goes with this episode to the link to the Spring Roundup. Make sure you go check that out, because there is some really good motivation in there. Do yourself a favor and check out those show notes because, let's be honest, there's some good stuff in there and if you want to show your love and support for the Confident Musician podcast, make sure you give it a follow and I will see you in the next episode. Bye.