Moving Beats Brooding

In my early years of performing, I had good nights and I had lousy nights.

The lousy nights were almost always something invented in my head. I’d mess up a part of a new song. Or I’d try some new stage banter that didn’t get a laugh.

Then, rather than moving on with my performance, my brain (or rather, my ego) would mark that moment so as not to forget that I messed up. Like a teenage girl marking her new issue of Lucky with those colorful tabs that say “YES!” on them. Only these tables said, “DOH!”

So, even though I had moved on to another song later in the show, the voice in my head would continue berate me for that one mistake or gaff. By the end of the night there would be two or three of those pink tabs hanging off the “pages” of my show. I would spend much of the evening trying to forget they were there.

At some point, I just stopped doing that. I made the decision to cut it out. I no longer “feel” mistakes like I used to because I can release them the second they happen. Contrary to what your ego would tell you, this is the fastest way to get back in the present moment and give a great performance – or succeed in anything!

Turns out football players have similar challenges.

I came across an interview with Otto Graham, former quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. He was asked to name the most important trait of a great pass receiver in football.

His answer?

“A damn short memory.”

What he meant was that during the game, the receiver had to be able to forget about the humiliation of the last pass he missed or accidentally dropped. He had to spend the game completely in the present moment so that he could catch the pass that was heading to him right now.

In other words — moving beats brooding.

Great advice for athletes, artists, or anyone, no?