12 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
great without starting at bad.
Usher said to prepare, to be confident, but
to expect something to go wrong.He told a story of a performance where he
injured himself at the beginning of a two-
hour show and had to keep dancing and
singing despite the pain.
His insights and pointers were priceless in
helping me create a mindset for success.
And I bought a set
of audios
called The Relaxed
Musician. It’s a 14-
day course in
exploring limiting
beliefs.
It helped me
realize I had a big
belief that if I
looked bad as a
performer, it would hurt my reputation in
other areas, such as an author or speaker.I could forget all my lyrics and totally wash
out on stage and it wouldn’t even dent my
image anywhere else. Most people forgive
and forget.
In fact, a miss on stage could give me a
terrific story about how I bombed and lived.
But I didn’t stop there.I read a terrific
book on how to
deliver an
unforgettable live
performance. I
liked the book so
much, I read it
twice.
It was called, The
Musician’s Guide
to a Great Live
Performance.
It became my bible. I read it on planes, took
it with me on my iPad, and shared it with
singer-songwriter friends.Author Jodi Aman helped take the mask off
of fear so I could see what it really was: an
illusion. I soaked up the wisdom in this book.
It really helped me.
I also read a 1950 book by Vernon Howard
called Word Power.
It was about how you talk to yourself, as well
as to others, effects your behavior and your
results. It’s not so much affirmations but self- talk.
Pretending you are fearless by saying “I am a
fearless performer” is a way to begin being a
fearless performer.
Don’t expect perfection.
But like most beliefs, it didn’t hold up.
And I read a wonderful book on
overcoming fear and panic, ti-
tled You 1, Anxiety 0.