Great Performance

 Book Title: Peak Performance

Book chapter: Primming

Author: Brad Stulberg , Steve Magness  Reviewed by: Jason Cheng Qi Quan

            All of us have experienced major events in our life. Exam, presentation and performance are the common events that we encounter in our lifetime. Have you embrace it or avoid it? If you are thinking about how to overcome fear during presentation and performance, this article is for you! 

             Every great performance requires countless practice and effort. There is a Chinese proverb saying that 3 minutes performance needs ten years of experience and practice. We need to practice a lot in order to show the best performance to the audience. However, sometimes nervousness may affect our performance. We forget dance step in the middle of performance, we forget the speech content in the middle of speech delivery. Why? Different people have different reasons.  How to minimize nervousness and optimize your performance? The solution is to practice and gets yourself into a ready state before a performance. 

            As we know, practice makes perfect. There is no shortcut to having the peak performance. Peak performance requires countless repetitions. Consistency is the key to success. Firstly, imagine what is  activities that are important to you. After you write down in the paper, identify the demand of body and mind for the activity. It means that you need to find a method for you to kickstart the action towards your great performance. For example, you can use pictures, phone reminders or desktop background to trigger your mind to motivate you to start practice. You can also use an object to invite your desired behaviors. After that, try to make the practice become a daily routine. Routine is a best way to help you to convert the difficult task into your new normal. A deep connection between our bodies and brains is created slowly if we execute the same routine in the same environment repeatedly. It helps you to expand your comfort zone and growth slowly and steadily.

            After you have developed your practice routine, it is time for you to perform! Wait a minute. You can design a pre-performance routine to help you to deliver your best. Imagine that you wake up in the early morning and you straight away go to work. Can you work effectively? Definitely not! This is because your body and mind are not ready.  After you wake up, you need to meditate, bathe, brush your teeth and your body and mind are ready to work! It is similar to preparation before the performance. How do you feel when you are on track and ready to race?  What is your feeling when you are waiting for your turn to interview, present to your customer, or give a speech?  Our minds and body will always react differently. Therefore, use the same routine every time you want to engage in the same activity. Great athletes warm up themselves before the big race. Great presenters rehearse their speech, take a deep breath and get themselves ready for public speaking. It is up to you how to set up the routine before your big day. Take your time to discover the routine that can prepare your body and mind ready.

         Few years ago, I was very happy because I was given a chance to represent my hostel to participate swimming competition on the campus. I was excited because this is my first time. However, I realized that I need to compete against the elite swimmers. I started to fear because I was just a beginner. I asked myself, why not give myself a try? Although it sounds impossible to win, I was determined to practice with my teammates. I enjoyed the swimming practice session before the competition. We motivated each other. I practice how to jump correctly from the jumping stand, I practice how to swim faster with breaststroke. It boosts my confidence after each practice session. Finally,  it is the competition day. The swimming pool is surrounded by supporters! They are here to cheer us up! I start to feel nervous. I take a deep breath and warmup myself. Guess what?  I was able to complete the swimming competition!  Although I didn't win in the competition, I feel that I have won because I have completed the competition and gain experience. If I was given a chance again to participate in the swimming competition, I believe I can do better next time!  

         Lastly, practice, routine and preperformance preparation are the key elements of great performers. Try to apply to the activities that are matter to you. Routine is the best way to help you to achieve the things that are meaningful to you. Body and mind synchronization is important because it unleashes our hidden talent! Life is like a stage. You are the main performers to perform in your life. Appreciate those people who clap the hands for you!