aka: How a very public humiliation was averted by the popular sugary confection!
Here’s a story that at one level is about singing, fast-approaching disaster and sweets.
And at another, about how cracking the code of your nervous system can help you to show up how you want to, when you want to.
I’ve only been singing in the local choir for four or five years.
So I was pretty chuffed when I was asked to sing a solo in our big summer concert.
Only a single line, just ten words.
But without the safety blanket of my 20+ choral colleagues.
Everything was going fine until the dress rehearsal.
When my heart started racing.
When I felt my chest constrict.
When all I could see, as if through a telescope, was the choir leader.
I sang like the proverbial drain.
Yup, a fight-or-flight reaction’s not great when you’re trying to belt out a line from Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’.
Crestfallen, and still hidebound by that auto-pilot response, I moped around and shunned anyone who tried to tell me it would be OK.
Finally, I realised that what I needed to do was cut off the reaction at source.
And for me, the first sign of trouble is a dry throat.
That’s the sensation that brings everything else on.
So what did I do?
Just before we went on stage, I popped a Haribo.
Kept my throat moist.
Hit every note.
Really enjoyed that solo line and the rest of the concert.
Sometimes showing up how you want to is nothing to do with confidence, self-belief or even practice. Nothing to do with the brain.
Sometimes it pays to understand what’s happening with your nervous system and give it a helping hand. To move from auto-pilot to co-pilot.
Not just for those high-pressure moments, but when that low-level creeping anxiety is back in town, too.
I shared some science-based strategies and tips along a similar vein in a recent 30-minute leadership webinar (e-mail me for a link!)
Happily there’s no singing – but, hey, maybe next time 🤣🤣