How to Overcome Performance Anxiety: Share, Don't Present for Judgment (BKI 60)

Hi, this is Diana. Bright knowledge instants give you one thing you can do today to move your creativity ahead. One of the main things people come to me for is to get through performance anxiety. They often know my story of severe performance anxiety, a performance anxiety that was so bad that I gave up music 100% for four years solid. And as I work through performance anxiety myself and helping other people through it, I realize how normal performance anxiety is.

It's very, very normal in our culture. I would say it's more common than not in our culture. So it's normal, but it's not natural. I have encountered many other cultures where performance anxiety is just not a thing. There's a completely different attitude towards performing, and the level of anxiety and terror and dread is just not there. So what is the difference? Why is it normal in our culture even though it's not natural?

I strongly believe that if we come from an attitude of sharing our creativity rather than presenting it for judgment, a massive part of the anxiety will disappear. When I look at cultures where performance anxiety is not a thing, the attitude towards making music, sharing art, being creative at all is seen as an act of sharing love, sharing wisdom, reveling in heritage, making sense of everyday life, and just saying, hey, this is what I'm making of it right now.

How's it for you? This is completely different than crafting your song, say, at home, and then presenting it for judgment, hoping that people will like it, that they will be impressed by it, that it will pass muster at all. This is a very different perspective than sharing from basically a heart space, saying, hey, you know, this is my experience, what's yours? So today, try this out. When you share your creativity, just share it from the heart and bypass any notion that it needs to be judged or that you're even hoping for a positive judgment.

I know that we all hope people like our work, but if that's the primary reason we're putting it out there, it's going to become a huge source of stress. So instead, share something creative today, just from the heart and say, hey, this is my experience right now. I'd love to know yours. Bye.