The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 073 Performance Reboot with Dr. Renée-Paule Gauthier

Episode Date: August 31, 2020

Performance Reboot – A 3-Part Motivation-Reset Workshop for Musicians Rediscover your passion + jumpstart your process – so you're ahead of the pack when concerts come back Stage Ready…  Set�� GO!   Workshop prompts and reflections: www.mindoverfinger.com/resources   And for the best practicing and performing season of your life, Dr. Gauthier invites you to join: THE MUSIC MASTERY EXPERIENCE A TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY TO LOVING THE PRACTICE ROOM, ROCKING THE STAGE, WINNING THE JOB, AND TAKING YOUR CAREER TO NEW HEIGHTS A 3-month experience for all musicians, starting September 21, 2020 BOOK A CALL AND LET'S SEE HOW WE CAN GET YOU RESULTS!   And don't forget to join the Mind Over Finger Tribe for additional resources on practice and performing!   THANK YOU: Most sincere thank you to composer Jim Stephenson who graciously provided the show's musical theme!  Concerto #1 for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra – Movement 2: Allegro con Brio, performed by Jeffrey Work, trumpet, and the Lake Forest Symphony, conducted by Jim Stephenson.   MIND OVER FINGER: www.mindoverfinger.com https://www.facebook.com/mindoverfinger/ https://www.instagram.com/mindoverfinger/      

You're listening to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, episode number 73. Welcome to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, discussions on mindful music making, efficient practice, and building a purposeful career. And now, your host, Dr. Renée Paul Gaultier. Hi, everyone. I hope this episode finds you healthy and doing well. This is still a period of uncertainty for several of us. So I hope that this summer of pandemic has still yielded some peace and some great moments for you. I'm really excited for the Mind Over Finger podcast to be back for a third season starting September 11th. And I have some wonderful guests coming for you

and some really great topics. So I hope you tune in all season long. But today I'm picking up the mic to bring you a special episode about goal setting, reflection and planning for the year ahead. Last week, I held the performance reboot workshop in my Facebook group, the Mind Over Finger Tribe. What it was is a three day motivation reset workshop for musicians. And my intention was to help all of us rediscover our passion and jumpstart our process so we can feel ahead of the pack when concerts come back. We had so much fun and so many participants reached out to let me know how helpful it was. But I also know that not everyone is on Facebook because I got some emails from people who told me they were sad they couldn't participate. So I thought I'd turn this

into a podcast episode and make that content more widely available. So today I'm bringing you a condensed version of all three days of the workshop, but don't worry, there's still enough good stuff left to be immensely helpful. And if you want to watch the live event, it's still up in the tribe and it's going to stay up so you can catch it anytime there. And I'll have that link for you in the show notes. You might tell me that this is the farthest thing from your mind. I hear it and I see it and I feel it too. There's hopelessness and grief and the current situation looks grim. In countless ways, the events of the last few months devastated the performing community.

Who here has not had events canceled or lost income and we're still processing what's happening and trying to adapt. A lot of you told me that you suffer from lack of motivation, and it's so easy to give in to despair. It's normal to feel helpless. It's normal to be fearful about the future of our industry and maybe depressed. All of this is normal. But despite the appearances, I'm hopeful.

I strongly believe the industry will rebound rebuild and thrive and let's talk about that for a second why I'm hopeful I'm seeing so many artists and organizations getting really creative with how they produce live concerts fighting to come back and to keep things going I see and I strongly believe in the resilience of our community and also in the passion of the younger generations. I'm seeing people left and right, activating, creating new opportunities for themselves, building new music businesses, and redefining their careers. I know that the landscape might look really different for a while. But keep in mind that our industry has overcome so much in the 20th century alone. It's going to come back. And when we go back,

what was will come back and we're going to see many new organizations and many new ways to make music and share music I really believe that many opportunities are going to be available so not only is there room to dream there's room for big dreams there's room for meaningful and personal dreams and definitely room for new opportunities in your career. So I hope that after going through the reflections and exercises in this episode, you'll walk away with revived motivation, a renewed vision for the future, clear goals and strategies to implement and create an incredible musical future for you, and that you'll feel dedicated again to the process.

and no matter what your goals are whether you want to be ready to rock the stage for your next performance or win an audition lend your dream job transform your online studio it's possible and the workshop can help you set things up for your massive success so grab a pen and paper and let's get planning for an amazing year of music making for you we're going to turbocharge your work and have you ready for the spotlights. So first, we're going to assess. We're going to take inventory, get clarity on what is and what you want, and we're going to start dreaming. Then we're going to plan. We're going to zone in on your main goals and strategize on how to implement efficient systems. And finally, we're going to elevate all of this. We're going to talk

about the pillars of practice and performance preparation that are going to take everything to the next level and get you there. But one more thing before we start. I held the workshop over three days instead of one long session because that time in between each session is important when reflecting on goals and purpose. That space, it gives us information and inspiration. It gives us clues and leaves room for our intuition to speak up and send us signals. It's important to have that time, to have that space, and to pay attention to the little voice inside, to really ponder on a plan that works for you and take in information. So I encourage you to pause the episode between each section of the workshop to give yourself that time, that pause to reflect

and come to more powerful insight. Don't rush this process. Now that I've said this, let's get started with getting some clarity. Everyone wants to feel motivated. And to be motivated, truly motivated, it starts with a clear vision, with being in touch with our purpose, picking the right tools, and setting efficient systems. Because clear goals plus a solid strategy combined with mindsets and practice systems leads to motivation and a great year musically. So here's our first exercise. And don't worry, I've created a PDF document with all of those exercises written down, and you can find it at mindoverfinger.com in the resources page. So you can download it and take your time without having to write down every word I say now.

And of course, I will have that link in the show notes for you. Here's our first visualization exercise. I want you to sit down and think about your life as it is now or before COVID. Really take the time to see it and feel it. Maybe close your eyes, take some deep breath, and really pay attention to the images that come to you. These are great clues to keep in mind.

Those images and those thoughts that pop up are really going to help you in the reflections ahead. After a few moments, I want you to take a piece of paper and a pen and create two columns, one with a plus sign and a minus sign or a happy and sad face. It doesn't matter. And we're going to start with the positive column. And I want you to write the first keywords that come to your mind when I ask you the following questions. When you think about your life right now, or your life before COVID, what did you love about it? What brought you joy and ignited your enthusiasm?

And that could be events, things, people. What got you motivated? And now for the negative column. Same thing, the first keywords that come to your mind when I ask those questions. What do you not love about your current reality or your life before COVID? What brought you dread, grief, drained your energy? And once again, this could be events, things, and people. what made you feel trapped or less than

and we're going to move on to our second visualization exercise and we're going to talk about practice this time so once again visualize your practice feel it what it feels like both physically and emotionally and see it, what it looks like. And again, write a few key words that come to mind when I ask you the following questions. What does your practice look like? What does it feel like?

On a scale of 1 to 10, what's your level of focus? On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you with the results when you walk away? Now let's think about performance. I want you to visualize one of your latest performance the same way that we've done it so far. So feel it and see it. Really take the time to experience it. remember what it was like the feelings that you had

the sensations that you had and write the first things that come to mind when I ask you the following questions what did you enjoy about this performance what did you not enjoy about this performance

how did you feel during the performance what were your thoughts during the performance and what was the result what went wrong and what went well how was your preparation and how were your life circumstances

during your preparation and the reason I'm asking all of this is that when comes time to dream we need to know where we stand right now and to help you gain even more clarity on your current situation and establish that vision for your future in the light of what you see about life and your musical life let's do another clarity exercise hopefully you're still sitting down and take the time to breathe take a few deep breaths and looking at those answers and those things that popped in your mind about your pre-covid life or your current life and your practice and your performance

let's dream about the life that you want so take a few minutes and see it and feel it Of course, you can pause this podcast or sit down later with the handout, but really take the time to dream and let the images and the feelings come to you without judgment. Then I want you to once more create two lists. On the left, write a big yes. and under that list all the things that motivate you that give you joy that really feed you

that feed your soul and on the right write a big no and list all the things that drain you keep you stuck and make you feel stagnant these are the things that you're going to say yes to and no to

in your future life and here's the second clarity exercise and it's an important question if I ask you if you knew you could not fail you knew as a deep knowing inside of you that you could not fail? What would your musical life look like?

If you knew you could not fail, what would you play? If you knew you could not fail, ask yourself the following questions. If I knew I could not fail, What would my musical life look like? If I knew that I could not fail, what would I play? If I knew I could not fail, where would I play?

With whom? If I knew I could not fail, how would I feel? finally the last exercise for the first part of the workshop is to make a list of 10 things you would accomplish by the end of the season if you knew you could not fail and don't let fear stop you let your intuition guide you write down what comes to mind without pondering whether or not it's possible or worrying about how to make it happen. Do not worry about the how. Now is about the what. If you knew you could not fail, what are 10 things you would accomplish by the end of the season? And this is where you could take a little break, maybe even wait 24 hours and think about

those questions and add or take away from your lists at will and come back to the second part when you feel ready. But for now, here's part two. We've just done a bunch of exercises to assess and take inventory to start dreaming and get clarity on what is and what you want. We looked at things you want to keep and things that you want to toss. And we've established your fearless vision for the future. In this part, we're going to plan. We're going to look at those goals again and strategize on how to implement them. We're going to refine and set one awesome goal for you. We're going to reverse engineer the process, talk about motivation, set up accountability, and talk about how to create the best context for yourself.

Here we go. First, let's pick one exciting, awesome goal. So look at the list from part one. And what are one or two things that really light you up, that are jumping out of the page? Is it to take an audition or learn a new piece or learn a new skill? You want it to be exciting and challenging but manageable because you want to be building on little wins along the way. But you also don't want to let fear and limiting

beliefs stop you. So really go with your instinct. Go with those words that you see on the page that really get you excited. Now let's get specific with that awesome goal. Again, we want the one that lights you up, that gives you that spark. So take a few minutes to consider and maybe even journal on some specifics. What do you want to accomplish? Why is this goal important to you? what do you need to do or acquire to make it happen do you need some equipment additional knowledge to build a specific skill maybe you need some help the next thing we're going to do is reverse engineer the process so you think of that awesome goal and let's set a date for completion. Then let's write the milestones in your calendar. So for example for a big performance

you might want to schedule some mock performances as it approaches. You might decide on what would be a good date for you to feel like you've mastered all of the repertoire. A specific date when you have it memorized, when all the notes are learned? Do you need time to get your instrument in the shop to be tuned up, put on new strings? And think of anything else you might want to schedule in advance. Things such as lessons, rehearsals, all of those things. And start drafting a schedule. The next thing I want to talk about briefly is motivation. And I'm going to invite you to listen to episode 71 of the podcast where I talk about the cycle of motivation, but here it is in a nutshell. The most important thing is to not wait for motivation.

Motivation comes from action. Action is what starts that cycle. With actions, we get results, and it's those results that get us motivated and when we're motivated we take more actions we get more results and we become even more motivated so you really are in charge of your motivation and that starts with how you take action so let's set things up so that you do day after day take all of these little steps all these little actions and get motivated and get results. So you have your awesome goal, you have your plan, and now I want you to start thinking about the optimal context you need to reach that awesome goal. Again, motivation comes from action. So let's set up a life that supports that dream and makes it easy to spring into action.

So as you think about yourself, your personality, your needs, what you know about yourself, how your life is set up now, what could that optimal context, that environment look like? What kind of environment would nurture you and nurture those goals? What are the things you need to do your best work? what are the things that help you show up as your best self what are some habits that would support you and lead to success do you need help maybe you need a babysitter or help from your family what are your needs do you need some specific materials some tools a different instrument, a practice space, more time? Also, how about accountability? I know that for some people that's crucial. Can you enlist a coach or a teacher or a mentor or a friend or a trainer?

Anyone who would hold you accountable to show up day after day. How do you like to keep track of your progress? Do you like a practice journal? Do you like charts? Do you prefer free form or a specific app? Then, knowing all of this, start thinking about how to implement, how to create that environment for yourself, and put things in your schedule and get that plan rolling. And remember, there's a way to go from always sitting on the couch to running a marathon. when we're smart about it. We just have to build up appropriately. So keep that in mind as you're considering new habits in a new schedule. And at the root of all that, once again, is to know yourself. So if you want, before moving on to part three, you could finish this little homework, which could

be to establish your goal clearly, draft your timeline, and schedule those milestones along the way and get clear on the environment and the context you need to establish to support you in pursuing this goal. This is where a second break could come in, but we will continue on to part three. So, so far on this journey to create your best musical year ever, we took inventory of where you stand and we got you dreaming again. In part two, we planned and we looked at your awesome goal and strategize on implementation. Today is about elevating. We're going to look at pillars of practice and performance preparation that are going to take everything to the next level and get you there. We're going to talk about mindsets, practice, performance preparation,

self-sabotage. And after that, I'm going to share some ideas I have to help you take things even further. First of all, regardless of what your big dream is, there are three basic qualities you want to nurture in your practice routine, whether it's preparing for a performance, creating a project, or anything of that nature. You need it to be sustainable, balanced, and adaptable. First, let's examine your current practice and reflect back on what you came up with in part one. What are some things you think you could do differently to make it more sustainable? You wanted to work with your lifestyle. You wanted to keep you interested.

You wanted to be something that you can do day after day with enthusiasm and without getting burned out. You wanted to be balanced. You want to have a good mix of different elements, technique, repertoire, performance, and you want it adaptable. You want it to fit the different needs that you have every day. So how flexible can you be with your practice? Now, let's look at five fundamental things at the core of efficient practice and a great performance experience. Number one is logistics. So we want to have clear deadlines and we reverse engineer things and we want to make sure we leave a lot of time for feeling ready, include mock performances, have time to taper and rest before the performance, attend to technical details, all of those things.

Number two is efficient practice. For that, I use my signature deep practice model with my private students and also with the participants of the Music Mastery Experience. You want to make sure that in your practice you have variety. Warm-up, technical work, deep work with an efficient practice system. And this is where I use a deep practice model where we learn how to chunk, map, learn with an emphasis on ongoing memorization. You want to have enough time to practice performing so you can go from practice mode to performance mode easily.

And you also want to include in this efficient practice mindsets that support you. In the deep practice model, we have four basic types of mindsets and they include bear awareness, beginner's mind, problem solving mindset, and the oh so very important self-compassion. compassion. Number three is about cultivating joy. How can you make your practice interesting? How can you make it meaningful? What are some ways that you can enhance your work, make it fun? What are some ways that you can problem solve and stay engaged in the practice process. Number four is mental preparation. In the long term, I strongly recommend that you develop a mindfulness practice and that you foster positive thinking. You can also use modalities such as meditation, yoga, Alexander technique, or EFT tapping. More specifically for performance

preparation. Visualization is a wonderful tool. Really watching yourself perform, feeling yourself perform, and experiencing the performance ahead of time. Number five is mock performances. I strongly recommend that you try to set up mock performances anywhere and anytime you can. Find some trusted colleagues, teachers, and don't forget to play for people who play a different instrument than you. Go with someone that makes you feel very comfortable and build up to someone who makes you feel nervous. But always pick people that you trust, say you are building on wins. And the more you get comfortable performing, the easier it will be for you to enter flow state in performance. So do not neglect mock performances and performance

preparation. Another really important aspect I want to cover in this part is self-sabotage, both in the practice room and on stage. We've all done it. And what can help with it is to develop mindsets of resilience, of strength, and fearlessness. One way to do it is look at the evidence. The proof is there. You've already had powerful moments and you can tap into that anytime. If you need help remembering, I recommend creating your list of accomplishments. Signing up for a concert, taking on an audition, performing for a competition, showing up week after week for lessons and rehearsals, showing up every day in the practice room. All of those things are evidence of your strength and resilience and determination. So be proud of it.

another thing is to take off those wrong prescription glasses you're wearing so often we look outside of ourselves for answers for the path that we're supposed to follow or the things we're supposed to be or do that's like wearing someone else's prescription glasses take off the glasses and stop looking outside for the answers look inside in this incredible well of inner wisdom that you have, this knowing that lives inside you. And if you start to trust it, to trust yourself, you will connect more deeply with your goals than ever before and feel a renewed, strong commitment for the process. Keep your awesome goal in mind. What do you want? Are you chasing your own goals? Or are you going for what you think you should be going after? Really pursue a goal

that gets you excited, that lights you up, and that is meaningful for you. Another thing is to have flexibility with that goal, to be able to pivot. If you feel like this goal you're pursuing is taking you elsewhere beautifully, a place that you would have never thought of before, feel free to modify that goal beware of the fake pivot pivoting because of fear you're settling down you're afraid you're not going to reach it is not the same thing as discovering a new path along the way and following your instinct there without fear another thing are you setting unrealistic expectations on yourself in the short term are you trying to take on too much too quickly don't doubt your big dream but make sure you give yourself time that as you're climbing that big

staircase to reaching that goal are the steps too big can you modify your plan so that they are a little bit smaller and the climb is not as steep so make sure you have the appropriate amount of time, the right tools, and that these steps are the right size and they are sturdy. You want them to be adequate, so not necessarily easy, but not daunting. And this will really help you keep momentum. Also, what's getting in the way? Recognize it. Is it an obstacle you can overcome with some brainstorming? Or do you have to take some time and really work around an eliminating belief?

The last thing to prevent self-sabotage is the pillar of health, self-care. How can you nurture your energy levels? How rested are you? Do you eat healthily? Do you exercise? Do you dedicate time to soul-filling activities? All of this contributes.

So here's a reflection for you. I would love for you to create your self-sabotage proof cheat sheet. List 10 accomplishments you're so proud of. So big things, small things, it doesn't matter. As long as it makes you feel proud and happy when you think about it. And don't dismiss what you think is a small thing. We have a tendency to undervalue so much of what we accomplish. Everything is a big victory.

The next thing, in one sentence, describe the personal meaning of your awesome goal, what it embodies for you. What limiting belief or beliefs might get in the way? what is one obstacle you might face and what could you do about it and finally what are you going to prioritize in your life in order to keep your energy and enthusiasm and always go back to your vision the thing is all of this is totally possible for you. And if you'd like to hear about how to take all of this further, I feel like I've reached a point where I'd like to share with you something I'm really excited about. And that can really bring everything we talked about to reality. Because what I've been hearing from you over

the past few months is that you want to feel motivated again. You want to be excited about playing. You want to be ready to hit the ground running when things go back in full swing. you have awesome goals and they can become your reality you want to be able to perform with more ease and feel free on stage you want to have effective practice techniques you want to make them habits and get results and for those of you who'd like to take a deep dive in all of those things that we talked about and so much more you want to take it to the next level you're looking for something motivating and you want to put all of this in action I can help you reach your goals and I'm really excited to bring back the music mastery experience it's my signature program

and it's a transformational journey to loving the practice room rocking the stage winning the job and taking your career to new heights we're just finishing the first round and the participants are having big wins they're gaining awesome insights they're seeing new opportunities come up in their lives and they're calling it a life-changing experience and what it is is it's a highly personalized group coaching experience over three months starting September 21st and we're going to have you experiencing amazing growth and you're going to be ready to rock comes the time the stage lights turn on again. My goal is to give you the tools to feel empowered

and go from stuck to free and shaky to confident. You want your practice and your performance preparation to be efficient. You want to achieve your full potential and I will give you the guidance to get powerful results. I saw this need in my students and my colleagues and I created this program as a result of my research, my own experience and these are the tools that help me win jobs and competitions. I see my students and my coaching clients progress faster, win competitions, perform at their best and gain incredible confidence. The Music Mastery

experience is perfect for musicians and teachers of all levels who want to feel empowered and confident, who want to reconnect with their love of music, who want to save time, who want to see more results and have a higher quality of life, feel less stress, and reach their goals. In that group context, you're going to find motivation, accountability, and inspiration. It's practical, effective guidance to get results. We have weekly trainings, weekly group coachings, accountability partnerships, monthly guest expert coachings, a private Facebook group, and unlimited email support from me. So if you're a motivated musician, all instruments welcome, and you're ready to have fun, and you're

ready to connect in a meaningful way and do the work, I believe you will see unbelievable results. It's not always going to be easy, but if you follow the steps and you're willing to put in the effort, sky is the limit. Over the three months, we're going to cover the practicing techniques that are going to help you learn repertoire faster and better. We're going to talk about all of the mindsets that are going to help you increase your awareness, your focus, your critical thinking in the practice room and your productivity we're going to make over your performance preparation by studying high performance training systems that are going to help you give optimal performance time after time and we're going to look at all of the aspects of

physical and mental preparation in the music mastery experience you're going to get everything you need to walk on stage or walk in that audition room fully confident and if you're a teacher you're going to be able to give your students these tools so they can also experience these results in the music mastery experience you get the information and the context so if this is something that sounds good to you click the link in the show notes and book a call together we'll see if it's a good fit for you. We're going to talk about your dreams, your goals, where you are, where you want to go, and how we're going to make it happen for you. So that's all I have for you today. I hope the performance reboot, all of those reflections and those exercises that we've done

together help bring you clarity, motivation, and enthusiasm for what's coming next. I encourage you to do all of the exercises. And as I said, give yourself time to ponder, to modify those lists, to really listen to that inner voice, what it tells you, and where you feel pulled. All of these clues are going to be at the foundation of an amazing musical future for you. I hope to see you in the tribe soon and don't forget to book a call to see if the music mastery experience is for you. I send you guys all the best and à bientôt.