In order to a good performer I would suggest it is an absolute necessity to be really confident in your ability. That’s not to say that you won’t feel any nerves prior to a performance, but more that once you get out there in front of an audience, you have an inherent self assurance that enables you to be successful.
But where does this confidence come from? Is it purely from having years of successful performing experience behind you? Is it just that you’ve seen it all before, have negotiated previously all the likely stumbling blocks, and so you no longer feel that there is anything very much out there that can surprise you?
Well, maybe. Certainly I would suggest that long term experience can help you to feel confident, but that would imply that everyone who has performed for years automatically will be a top rate, self assured magician, and that is certainly not the case. Conversely, it would also infer that a beginner with little or no performing track record could never put in a confident performance, and again that is clearly not true as there are many supremely confident inexperienced entertainers.
So, if it’s not just down to having been there and done it many times before, what is it that makes one entertainer confident and another a bag of nerves?
I think it is mainly down to self esteem. This is different from having a strong ego, which I feel is often a destructive force, as it is confidence which may well not be justified and could be more based on hype than any reality.
No, what I am talking about is that inner feeling of self worth, a sort of personal understanding of where we are in terms of ability. If you have strong self esteem, it can help you to overcome fears of failure, because you know inside that you are perfectly capable of being successful.
In a way it’s a bit like having a positive attitude. People who believe in themselves, who have a ‘glass half full attitude’, are often high achievers. It’s not that they necessarily possess greater levels of skill or dedication than their competitors, it’s more that they have an unshakeable self conviction that spurs them on to greatness.
But how can you get good self esteem? It’s not like you can order it online from Amazon! I think it is down to two things. The first is to always try to do the very best job possible. Don’t cut corners, don’t take the easy way out, just put in the effort to be the best you can be. This doesn’t mean you need to be a world beater, you just need to feel that you have done your utmost and that you have left no stone unturned in your attempt to be successful.
The second thing is to surround yourself with positive, upbeat people. If you spend most of your time in the company of the moaners, the ‘glass half empty’ guys, the ones who always reel off all the reasons why something can’t be done or won’t work, you’ll become like it too.
But if you constantly hear comments from people who want to be successful, who praise where praise is due, who can empower you with the belief that anything is possible, I think this increases your self esteem and will go a long way to helping you to be confident and successful.