Vanessa Van Edwards describes a study where people who told themselves "I'm excited" before singing performed better and enjoyed it more than those who said "I'm anxious." Anxiety and excitement feel the same in your body. The difference is what you call it.
Anxiety and excitement feel very similar. The cousin or sister motion. Is there a way to reframe how you're viewing your own anxiety as potential excitement? And here's what they did. They took people and they had them come into the lab and they gave them a task. They had them sing Don't Stop Believing. They were rated for their accuracy of words, accuracy of notes. I had them sing this karaoke song but they had three different groups. The first group walked in, sung the song, done control group. Second group walked in and they had to say I'm anxious out loud and then sing and the last group had to say I'm excited and then sing a song. That's it. Just saying those words. The I'm excited group outperformed, outsung and actually enjoyed the experience more than the group that just said I'm anxious. It means that we are in control of how we view our own anxiety, our own awkwardness.
