Beware of populist phrases!
‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’, is both one of the most over used as well as damaging phrases populated as a fix all response to high stress situations. If the same phrase was applied to physical pain, without a careful scrutiny and evaluation of the potential harm and consequences, its value would be more appropriately seen as deeply flawed. Anybody who knows me, even slightly knows that I do not give in to fear. However behind the fear lies a cause. In the physical sense there might be postural adjustment or a muscle strain which needs treatment or resting to avoid further damage or worse! In the same way psychological fear also has a cause, to which a careful enquiry might reveal a way from which a mental repositioning along with psychological adjustment and understanding might enable the fear to be downgraded to high-pressure.
High-pressure and responsibility is an inevitable part and consequence of performance which cannot be denied. But if there is some practical cause behind the fear; for example task anxiety undermining overall confidence. Exposing the task(s), exploring potential cause and then implementing a strategic approach will ensure a more robust response to the pressured environment of performance. If the fear potentially stems from a psychological cause, trait anxiety (anxiety being an intrinsic part of your nature) or state anxiety (an anxious response to the particular event or performance situations in general), an enquiry will enable you to apply rational reasoning giving the opportunity to explore a responsible strategy. This could be moving your attention from the audience or possibly a particular person or persons in the audience to someone (either in the audience or not) to whom you would prefer to dedicate your performance. It might be that the motive behind your performance is the music itself to which your dedication and attention is committed. Before I go on to play, my personal affirmation is ‘I am here for the music’.
But most importantly, performance or indeed any pressured situation should not be in a spirit of fear, as fear can cause so much damage. Physically, through muscle, postural (and for wind players) aural-facial tension and psychologically, compromising imagination and intuition. Fear has a cause; cause has a reason; reasoning promotes solutions; solutions promote clarity and commitment giving the potential to responsibly understanding our fears. Not as catchy as the original version, but less damaging and certainly more powerful in working and managing ourselves in the face of high-pressure and demanding situations and so doing, ever expanding ourselves and our potential in our journey through life.