Guest Blogger: Natty Plunkett - Performance Anxiety

By Natty Plunkett, Dukes Runner since 2014, LMFT (licensed marriage and family therapist)

Performance offers empowerment, a threat, and lots else that can be equally personal. We love performing when it gives expression to our power and our passion in a social context. We intersect with similarly impassioned people in the performance arena, and it can be very invigorating.

However, performance poses a threat. My ego may very well suffer a major injury of inferiority on public display. Fortunately, the discomfort of this ego injury is survivable because Self does not depend on ego. Ego is an internal part, whereas Self is the grounded center. Also, performance reminds us of the possibility of threat with the physiological signals it generates. The physiological arousal that precedes a performance can be interpreted as fight/flight/freeze. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors used these signals to prepare for dangerous hunting expeditions, for example. Curiously, the physiological arousal signals for fear are also the signals for excitement. We can use neurobiological science to interpret the body’s feedback optimistically as

“A challenge, oh how exciting! This is my opportunity to transcend my day to day training and do something bigger. Today, I will get to learn about myself, feel powerful for at least a few moments, and maybe even experience the exhiliration of peak performance. I welcome my body’s signals that I am amped up enough to take this on and get to flow state.”

Peak performances are meant to be celebrated. At the same time, they should be viewed realistically. Peak performances are high highs that occur at a frequency lass than we desire, on a timeline over which we would prefer much more control. The part I can control is setting up the internal environment needed for peak performance. I set up this environment with these four answers to the following helpful question.

How do I play well today?
The entire conversation in the performance mind hinges on the initial question*. The performer’s goal can be operationalized as “what processes do I put in to place so that the strengths in me already will be unpacked in the present moment?”
I suggest these answers:
A: I will set up the conditions for flow state. I will trust that flow state will come at some point during this performance.
–Flow state= focus + control             Anxiety= distraction + chaos
–The control of flow state is typically developed through repeated conditioning. In athletics, it’s the efficient building of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems.
—Trust is important because flow state can’t be manufactured on demand. Trusting oneself allows one’s confidence to counteract self-doubt and anxiety.

B: I will identify my strengths as they are currently. In the performance at hand, I will put this knowledge to work by expressing my strengths whenever applicable.
—Unfamiliar strategies and underdeveloped strengths are best suited applied to practices and very minor performances. Refrain from experimenting during a performance that holds weight.

C: I will amplify encouragement as it comes. I will orient my attention to the positive and relevant things before and during the performance.
—External examples of these things include cheering, the opponent disclosure of vulnerability, or pre-performance wishes of goodwill from another person. Internally, these are discoveries of pleasure or power that may sound something like, “Oh, I executed THAT segment well! I have more energy or clarity right now than I had expected! Wow, I’m ahead! Hey, this is fun. I’m feeling satisfied in this moment even though it’s hard.”

D: I will redirect my survival instincts. I am performing, not combating a saber tooth tiger or famine/drought.
—–The survival instincts of our hunter-gatherer ancestors send these anxious messages:
“Aw! There’s a saber tooth tiger coming called Losing! You need to fight/flight/freeze!”
“Aw! You’re so tired! There must be a famine or drought coming. You could die of exhaustion, so shut it down!”

Analysis after the performance is useful for a growth mindset. Each performance offers lessons regardless of the favorability of the outcome. Analyze the steps you took towards and away from your goal, that helpful first question.

1. Prepare for analysis by differentiating your logical mind from your emotional mind. This is not about determining your worth as a person, so your ego and feelings are not applicable here. Attend to feelings at a different time.
2. Break down your performance in to sequential steps. Include your offense and your defense.
3. Determine the direction for each step. If it is unclear if a step is moving towards the goal or away, it probably needs to be broken down in to separate steps.
4. For the ‘towards’ steps, identify how to replicate or remind yourself how to use them next time.
5. For the ‘away’ steps, flip what was not helpful. Figure out the alternative approach that may work better next time. Making constructive steps out of negativity takes practice, so consider asking for help from a person who is familiar with the performance arena and can think optimistically.
6. Notice how enjoyable it is to learn. The outcome of this analysis is self-discovery. Let self-discovery be intrinsically rewarding.
   Embrace either outcome:
   Performing well this time    OR     learning how to perform well next time

*A common but tired question in sports performances is “How do I beat you?”. This question focuses the mind on what I cannot control (the behavior of another person) and the opponent’s strengths become the main event. The mind makes a personal comparison with this opponent, possibly leading to the simplistic and fortune-telling thought “I am probably less than them. I will be a zero compared to them.” No flow comes from this way of thinking, so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.