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Take Your Vision Seriously, Not Yourself
A remedy for sensitive high-achievers
Last night I performed a monologue at a writer’s group winter solstice event. I’m a quick study and am usually very comfortable with monologues, but that one was supposed to be sung to the tunes of “Revolution” by Beatles.
Next thing I know, I was singing in my bedroom like a mad woman at 1am. I was sweating, trying to fit the words into the music as best as possible.
When it was my turn to perform, I said: “Last time I was singing in front of the audience was last summer. So I’m just gonna wing it.” And it turned out more than OK. My audience liked it, and I felt good.
Then this question popped in my head: I am actually a pro at this, but why was I dreading so much?
Because I took myself too seriously. I took any flaws as reflections of my inadequacy. My maniac practice was based on fear of failure, not enjoyment or making progress. By doing this, I was constantly in distress, anxious, worried and feeling unworthy.
I believe this is a dilemma for a lot of sensitive high-achievers. We are sensitive, so we tend to take things more personally. We are high-achievers, so we’re always looking to do better.
When these two are combined, we leave little room for what is actually there, or what…
