Confidence

I have, in the past, talked about the importance of having confidence and high self-esteem. One of my websites, www.SelfEsteemBuilder.net is about building self-esteem. (It's free and effective)
Last night I had a prime example of what happens when you lose that confidence in yourself. I am in the final week of rehearsals for a show I am in, and we had our first rehearsal on site and in costume (longstoryshort- period piece, being played at a local museum, original plays, one acts, first time ever performed)

I had a good first show, dropped one or two lines, but overall it went well. during the second show I stumbled on some lines and lost my confidence. The next two scenes were really bad. I did not have time to reset and clear my head and all my lines ended up as a mad jumble in my head. One of the directors (under a great deal of stress) got upset and wanted to continue running the two jumbled scenes, but in my head I felt that I needed to stop rehearsals and re-cement the lines in correct order in my head.

What is more important? We need to be able to complete scenes, even if all the proper lines are lost. We need 'ad lib' skills to get back on track, so the show can go on.

It all tied back to confidence level. In my living room my confidence level is high. In performance mode, for some reason, my confidence level was shaken by a few dropped lines. The best thing to do is restore confidence and move back into the high level of performance I usually have. It's all a mental preparation thing. The confidence building tools on the self esteem site work well. They are not a 50 yard dash to confidence. It is a three week exercise that will not work for what is going on in my head today.
Today, I must know that everything I need is already inside me. I know the lines; I know my capabilities. I am a professional and I will triumph.

What tools do you need? What do you do to succeed? The path to great success involves continuous effort and ongoing education. Together we will all make it.