How musicians are being held hostage by their limiting beliefs

Attention-grabbing headlines turn heads and sensationalize what might otherwise be just a strong, solid response to a problem, not an actual hostage situation.

What’s the problem?

Our motivation is being held at ransom

How many musicians do you know struggle with thinking they are not good enough?

Perhaps they want to come across as humble or self-deprecating, when in fact, it was an expectation of others that eventually became an internal, limiting belief.

Our thoughts and beliefs are what drive us to accomplish anything, and many times performers let those thoughts and beliefs subdue our true potential, our desires, and our motivation to get better.

I’ve seen it a hundred times, and suffered from it myself most of my life.

Maybe you do, too.

At the very least, we should be able to help our fellow musicians overcome their motivational hostage-takers.

Distractions are literally deadly

You are probably aware that the number one cause of road traffic accidents in most countries is “inattentiveness.” That means the driver was distracted. I remember when it used to be fatigue – driving for too long, too early in the morning or late at night, or after a really long, hard work shift, and falling asleep at the wheel.

Now, it’s just plain old simple lack of attention to what matters: checking mobile phones, putting on makeup, eating and drinking, rubber-necking (people watching), talking to passengers… and people die as a result.

What do musicians get distracted by?

Their mistakes, for one thing.

But also other concerns that have crept in over a lifetime of self-criticism, such as worrying if we’re good enough.

• Do I look right?
• Was that too loud or too soft?
• I got lost – where the heck am I? I can’t do this…
• I forgot to sit up straight – did anyone notice? Does it matter, really?
• Wow – I wish I sang like that!
• Ha! They messed that up pretty ba… Oops.

And a whole host of other thoughts that race through our minds while performing.

If we’re honest with ourselves, these distractions quickly transform into ideas that we believe about ourselves.

They become bad habitual thoughts that resonate for many years.

They are our limiting beliefs that hold us hostage.

Getting better at rescuing our minds

The only real option, then, is to stop ourselves getting distracted in the first place, and that’s REALLY hard to do on our own, without help.

If we truly want to make our world a better place by getting better as musicians, we have to rescue our thoughts away from those limiting beliefs. This way, we shift towards a mindset that gives our music focus and gives us the motivation to keep wanting to get better at what we do.

Eliminating limiting beliefs is the way forward.

And it’s a daily battle.

Here’s a TRIPLE WIN lesson:

(Cultivate your community)

When we eliminate our limiting beliefs, we free ourselves to invest energy and thoughts into the music we are sharing with others. How we look, how we dress, and how well we think we are doing are all important aspects of performing – we shouldn’t be distracting in any of those areas – but they should not distract us from the task at hand, either: helping members of our circles of influence experience something that cannot be expressed in words.

“Music touches me emotionally, where words can’t,” said Johnny Depp.

Bringing people together while your thoughts about you and your music are being held hostage prevents people like Depp from witnessing your most spectacular performances.

This is something I conquer each and every day, and I’d love to show you how.

Check out my new free training session at concertuniversity.com to begin the journey, and let’s unleash the music inside that will help you accomplish more than you ever thought possible.

Go to http://concertuniversity.com now…