Building on Past Success – Lessons from a Seven-Year-Old

Saturday evening, my seven-year-old granddaughter explained to me that back when she was only six and preparing to do a solo dance performance in front of a hundred or so people, she was a “skinny bit” nervous. She went on to explain that she then remembered how it felt when she had performed a sort of similar exercise routine in front of her Jazzercise class and it went well. My granddaughter reminded me that in addition, she had practiced the routine a lot (she choreographed the routine herself by the way and was the youngest solo performer – bragging grandfather) and that she pretended that the television, chairs, sofa, and pillows were all people in the audience to help her get ready for the big night. For the actual performance, “it felt so good when all the other dancers cheered, and my teacher cheered, and everyone in the audience cheered.”

Very impressed and proud and feeling like there should be some sort of grandfatherly lesson in here somewhere, I told her that remembering what past success feels like and using that feeling to have success in the present is what successful people do. And now that she has another success, she can remember the sound of the cheering and how that experience felt to help her for her next performance. We also discussed the value of practicing and how visualizing helps us get ready for all of our performances. Finally, we agreed that it’s like her to be prepared and it’s like her to be successful and that she should expect success.

So next time you’re a skinny bit nervous about an upcoming meeting, deadline, or presentation (performance), remember your past successes (see and hear the applause and the cheers), prepare as much as possible (practice your routine), and visualize success.