Positive Thoughts or Bad Atti-tunes?

Our thoughts influence our outcomes. Do you have positive thoughts or bad atti-tunes? The key is to manage your playlist.

Everyone has a story of failure. I have so many that just picking one to write about is a challenge. But there is one particular failure of mine that stands out above the rest. THIS failure was painful… The worst. Crash and Burn, Life’s Most Embarrassing Moments kind of failure.

Positive Thoughts or…

Caribbean Sound, the steel drum band which I co-founded with some of my friends, was invited to perform with a small, regional orchestra located in Owensboro, Kentucky, (birthplace of Captain Jack Sparrow, a.k.a. Johnny Depp).

The month before leaving Florida for Kentucky, the band had decided to perform the entire concert sans music – entirely from memory. In most situations, this was just fine with me because our performances were usually conducted on a beachfront deck next to the tiki bar. But this performance would be different.

However, the band had performed all of the music many times before – all except for one piece. On the program for that evening was a well-known, classic piece of music that was to be performed by Caribbean Sound without the orchestra. We were going to perform Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” on steel drums.

…Bad Atti-tunes?

Have you ever had that sick feeling in your gut? Nagging self-doubt that no amount of training, studying, or practicing will cause to go away? Maybe before a big test, or speaking in public?

I had that sick feeling the entire month before the concert. No matter how much I practiced my part, I kept picturing myself on stage, the audience in front of me and the classically trained orchestra musicians onstage behind me, all watching and listening as I obliterated Beethoven’s classic. 

The month went quickly, and before I knew it, I was standing on stage about to begin playing the opening chords to “Moonlight Sonata.” The audience and the orchestra members sat back in their chairs in anticipation. No one had ever heard “Moonlight Sonata” performed on steel drums. Unfortunately, they didn’t hear it that night either.

I began playing the beautiful, constantly changing, broken chords that move throughout the entire piece. Barry joined in with the melody and Sean with the bass line. Our arrangement was six minutes long – only the first thirty seconds went well…   

Two minutes in, Barry and Sean would not even make eye contact with me. I don’t blame them – what I had might be contagious. Every time I found my place and got back on track, my bad atti-tune would remind me that I was supposed to screw it all up – and I did.

Your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

That night, my enemy came to visit. My mind went totally blank. Thirty seconds in, I could not remember a single note of the music. That’s when I made a fatal decision – I decided to keep playing—wrong notes – LOTS of them. The more wrong notes I played, the more lost I became.

After the concert, I pretended to be a confident, successful, professional musician. Inside, I knew that I was a total failure.  

So, what went wrong? It wasn’t that I hadn’t practiced enough – I had the music memorized. The problem was with my Atti-tunes – those constantly streaming inner thoughts. I had spent a month before the concert listening to Bad Atti-tunes.

Instead of positive thoughts like, “Mike, you’ve got this. You’ve done the work and know this piece inside out – you can’t fail,” I fed my mind with messages like, “I’m not good enough. No matter how much I practice, I’m going to freeze up and embarrass myself.”

I had totally psyched myself out and set myself up for certain failure long before the band’s maroon cargo van crossed the state line into Kentucky.

To make matters worse, Caribbean Sound had accepted another invitation to perform with the Rockford, Illinois Symphony Orchestra – “Moonlight Sonata” was on the program.

Manage my Playlist

I had two months to get my act together. Here’s what I did:

The first thing that I did was read a book titled “Creative Visualization” by Shakti Gawain. It’s a great book that has really changed my life in so many ways.

Then, every day, for two months straight, I would spend 20 minutes sitting in a quiet room with my eyes closed, visualizing the following scenario:

I see myself standing on stage, relaxed and confident, surrounded by people who want to see me succeed. Picking up my sticks, I stop to take a deep breath, hold it briefly, and then slowly release it. I make eye contact with Barry and Sean and then begin playing the opening notes to “Moonlight Sonata.”

My hands glide smoothly from note to note. Each note is perfect – not too loud, nor too soft, not too fast or too slow. The band is in a state of flow. We respond to each other as the music moves forward. It’s beautiful and effortless. We get to the end of the piece and play the final note – there is total silence in the room. I pause a moment before looking over at Barry and Sean.

We know...

The audience is momentarily mesmerized. Then they jump to their feet and give us a standing ovation. The orchestra behind us shows their approval by stomping their feet on the stage. Barry, Sean, and I take a bow, and then another. (Steel drummers don’t often get the opportunity to bow – at least not when performing on the deck of a tiki bar).

After my visualization, I would return to the present moment, pick up my sticks and play through “Moonlight Sonata” once without stopping – no matter what.

Twenty minutes of visualization and six minutes of actual practice – that was it. Every day for two months.

What I learned

On the evening of the Rockford concert, I found a quiet spot backstage and went through my visualization process. The concert began, and all was going well.

When it came time to perform “Moonlight Sonata,” I took in a deep breath, held it, and slowly let it out. I looked over at Barry and Sean and smiled. Their looks told me what was going through their minds: “Is Mike going to “improvise” again?” After I reminded myself one last time to keep breathing, I began to play…

Six minutes later it was all over.  

Our thoughts influence our outcomes. I think of it this way:

Good Atti-tunes lift you up, and Bad Atti-tunes drag you down – Manage Your Playlist.

Visualization is a great way to manage your playlist. It will help you to create Good Atti-tunes for your mental playlist and tune out the Bad Atti-tunes.  

When visualizing, make sure to use all of your senses. What does your ideal outcome look like? Sound like? Feel, taste, or smell like? By using all of your senses, it helps to make your mental image more real to you.

Oh yeah… the standing ovation in Rockford lasted for several minutes.

No wrong notes,

Mike

I hope that this post has inspired, motivated, or educated you in some small way. If so, please consider joining the Creative Pandemonium community. It’s free – click on “Join the Band!”