Matthew Hussey shares Donny Osmond's trick for stage fright: his wife told him to "do an average job," which freed him from perfectionism and led to his best performance. The same mindset works for approaching someone you're attracted to or any anxiety-inducing situation.
Hi, guys, it's Matthew here. Look, I'm on day two of my retreat right now. It's the most beautiful thing. I literally, I didn't know I was gonna make a video right now, but I saw this sky behind me and you've got the beautiful light and I thought, I have to do it. So as you can see, the pool is below me and I'm here right now on my balcony of the bedroom. I just finished day two of the program. So exciting. And I was thinking, what do I want to make a video about for you right now in this spontaneous moment? And I decided the thing I wanted to do it about is I watched an interview recently with Donny Osmond where he was talking about his stage fright in going on stage because he's a guy who suffered from massive stage fright. And I'm on stage for five days and almost 50 hours in this particular program that I run, the Five Day Retreat. And very often people ask me, do you get scared when you go up there and do this? In the same way that people get scared of, say, approaching someone they're attracted to, they also get scared of going on stage. It's the same thing. And in describing my fear, I say, look, I've never not been afraid. I continue to have nerves all the way through. They haven't gone away for me. Sometimes I get less because with experience they get less. But ultimately I've always had a sense of nerves before I go on stage. And I was watching this interview with Donny Osman where he said, I was doing Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat and I was backstage and I was burning down and I didn't know how I was going to get out there on stage. And he said, the thing that changed it for me was my wife was there and she said, do yourself and do the audience a favor and go out there and do an average job. And it was such an interesting moment because he said in that moment he went out there and he gave the best performance he'd given in his life. Now why was that? He's got his partner standing there saying, go out there and do an average job, not go and blow them away. Because of course, that's what creates stage fright in the first place. I have to go out there and be perfect. As soon as you say to yourself, I'm allowed to be average, that's when it all changes. And that's when you're able to actually just go out there and be you. And very often you go and exceed that expectation anyway. So in your life right now, whether it's approaching a guy you like, or if you're watching this and you're a guy and you want to approach a girl you like, or if you have to go on stage, or if you don't have to do anything that involves that fear, that stage fright, metaphorically. I want you to go out there and just do an average job. Give yourself the freedom to not be your best. And what you'll find is you'll have much less pressure in going out there and doing it. So, look, guys, this is me from the retreat. Take care. I will try and do a video for you when I get back. Right now, I'm in Florida. I'm going back to LA in a few days, so I will make another video for you then. Take care. I can't wait to see you soon. Bye. Bye.
