For most of us, there are thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that consistently come out when it’s time to perform. What is it for you?

Do you have an incessant ‘what if’ stream of thought?
Do you obsessively play out all the outcomes in your head?
Do you try to do anything possible at the last minute to give you a little edge?
Do you “not care?”
Do you panic?
Do you compare yourself to others?
Do you try to be perfect?

We all do something to try to help us cope with stress. Some of what we do helps and some doesn’t. The point is to recognize the difference. Use the simple trick of asking yourself in the moment, “is this making me feel better?” If what you do helps, by all means keep doing it; if you’re not seeing the results you want, consider that it may not be working for you anymore.

If you’re ready to make a shift in your performance it has to start with letting go (yep, that again) of those old ways of doing and being and shifting your coping strategies.

If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.