If you’re going to really go for it to be the best version of yourself you possibly can be, you probably will feel what’s called imposter syndrome at some point. This just means you are REACHING for something that is just beyond your grasp, as you step into the great unknown to actualize your vision. I love reading autobiographies of the greats, and this is a common theme. The flipside of this is to believe in yourself unequivocally (because sometimes no one else will), and to over-prepare so when your moment comes you know your stuff inside out. But often when we’re trying to train a skill, what we should be training is a STATE.
The fastest way to change your state is through empowering body language. Don’t feel like it first and then do it, do it first then feel like it. This is body to mind, rather than mind to body. When feeling imposter syndrome, any thoughts you have like ‘who am I to be here with these people’, ‘I don’t know if I can do this’, ‘I’m going to fail’ or similar waves of self doubt, thinking your way out of it won’t work, it has to be through empowering body language which is your mainline to change your state almost instantly. MINDSET is not everything!
Reproduce the BODY that you have when you’re at your best, not the THOUGHTS. (You can even ‘steal’ empowering body language from your heroes) This is where you will have to ‘ignore’ your brain; think of it as an alert that you just discard. Your brain is only trying to keep you ALIVE and surviving. Say ‘thank you for this notification’, and let it go. However you can, either by recording yourself, using mirrors to observe your body language, become almost like an actor that’s able to snap into the body form of your best self at will. Here’s a clue: when you’re at your best, your chest will be out slightly. Your sternum only needs to be out by 2mm, but this can make all the difference in your STATE! After using the empowering body language, watch your thoughts start to change like magic. Self talk changes to ‘I’ve got this’, ‘In this moment I am giving my best’, ‘I am creating, not competing’, ‘Let’s go out and have some fun’. AWARENESS is the first step in making the best choices to take CHARGE of your state. When you’re at the top of your game observe every detail you can, and ask yourself ‘how am I holding myself right now’, rather than asking ‘how am I THINKING right now’. Asking the right QUESTIONS to yourself consistently is a habit the best in the world all share.
So how do you TRIGGER your most effective states? Cues to yourself, engineering your environments, your self talk, and of course using the body language that empowers you to be the best version of yourself you can be!
Watch the entire podcast HERE: http://bit.ly/TheBodyLanguageOfDrumming
