| Positive Self-Talk/Affirmations I have the ability to change my thoughts to create the kind of performances I desire. I now release old thoughts and replace them with positive ones throughout the day. |
As human beings, you have the power to change your thoughts, but not your emotions. Could you stop loving your daughter or your pet? Of course not. If someone you cared about moved far away or died, you need to grieve and feel sorrow in order to adjust to life without the presence of that person. These are natural feelings over which you have little control.
You don’t, however, have to continue to think the thoughts that create anxiety about performing. Frances Picabia, a poet and philosopher, said, “Our heads are round so our thinking can change directions.” And indeed, what we say to ourselves and how we say it influences our performances.
Neuroscientists have found that the average person thinks 50,000 thoughts per day, of which 80 percent are negative. And can you guess which topic we most think about? That’s correct: ourselves. The good news is that there is an effective way to change this pattern of negative self-thinking.
WHAT WE FEED, GROWS. Imagine watering a plant and watching it thrive. If you stop giving it water, it withers and dies. When you feed your mind with thoughts about confidence and calmness, those traits will grow in you. When you feed yourself with thoughts of fear and failure, that is what will likely manifest when you perform. Which would you rather encourage?
An old American Indian is telling his grandson about the fight that is inside himself. The fight is between two wolves. One wolf is driven by anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment, inferiority, lies, and ego.
The other wolf is filled with joy, peace, love, hope, generosity, humility, kindness, empathy, truth, compassion, and faith in humankind. The grandson asks, “Which wolf wins, grandfather?” The simple reply is, “The one I feed.”
Brain researchers report that the mind can only hold one thought at a time, so our first task is to replace these negative thoughts, which are counterproductive to our performances, with positive ones that lead us to think about the specific goal we want to achieve. These outcome-directed thoughts are called affirmations, or positive self-talk.
Each of my columns will offer you a gift of two affirmations. Feel free to substitute or change the words around to suit your needs. In the next issue, I’ll show you how to find some powerful affirmations about your own fears, and share guidelines for how best to write them and when to use them.
Think positively!
This article continues with Change Your Thoughts – Part Two.
Other Flute Focus columns in my series “Performance Anxiety from Inside Out” are also available.