May 10, 2011

Is your preparation ritual more trouble than it's worth?



On an episode of the Graham Norton Show, Graham asked his guests about preparation rituals. Here's Josh Groban's response:

"I used to have some crazy pre-performance quirks. I've decided to get rid of all of those because I'm the personality type that if decide that I'm going to start needing things before I go on stage, it's just going to escalate to the point of being completely intolerable.

In the first two or three years of my career, I decided in my own crazy mind that I couldn't go onstage unless I had some kind of patterned or colored socks and underwear. I know, it sounds crazy, but I could not have white underwear or socks. I just thought if I go out onstage in white socks and underwear, it's gonna be the worst show I've ever had in my life. So I would actively find polka dot underwear to wear onstage."

As former professional basketball player, speaker and life coach Fran Harris told me when I interviewed her about her pre-performance rituals, "Honestly, a ritual can cripple you as much as it can aid you in succeeding. So, I try not to get obsessive about anything but just to develop the skills necessary to perform."

Do you have a specific preparation ritual when you speak, play a sport or perform? Have you ever found your ritual to be more trouble than it's worth?

See my preparation rituals series here.

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