Coaching practices for The Moment I'm Up There Performing My Head Fills with How Do I Look Am I Blowing This What Are They Thinking and Watching Myself Like That is Exactly What Makes Me Fumble the Thing I Actually Know How to Do
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For The Moment I'm Up There Performing My Head Fills with How Do I Look Am I Blowing This What Are They Thinking and Watching Myself Like That is Exactly What Makes Me Fumble the Thing I Actually Know How to Do, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- The moment I’m up there performing, my head fills with "how do I look, am I blowing this, what are they thinking"
- Right before I perform I keep picturing the win or the trophy, and it gets me amped but my body still feels unrehearsed for the actual moves
- Right before something big my nerve drains out and I forget I’ve ever done this well
- While I’m actually performing there’s this running commentary telling me I’m blowing it, and I take every word of it as fact in the moment
- The second I stumble over a word or trip on a step, my whole body floods with the certainty that the entire room clocked it and is still thinking about it
Practices that may help
- Shift to task-focused attention under performance anxiety
Redirect attention from self-monitoring and outcome worry to the specific process cues of the task at hand.
Attentional Deployment, Made Practical - Include a brief process imagery step in your routine
Mentally rehearse the execution process — not the outcome — as part of your preparation sequence.
Pre-Performance Routines, Made Practical - Use mastery imagery to build confidence before high-stakes performances
Replay previous best performances in imagery before high-pressure situations.
Mental Rehearsal and Imagery, Made Practical - Identify your Self 1 interference in real time
Notice when your inner critic is instructing, judging, or catastrophizing — and name it as Self 1.
The Inner Game: Quieting Self 1 - Actively update your estimate of how much others notice
When you assume everyone saw your blunder, consciously cut the estimate in half.
The Spotlight Effect: Why You Think Everyone Is Watching - Shift attention to external focus under pressure
Direct attention to the effect of your movement (ball, target, outcome) rather than your body mechanics.
Choking Under Pressure, Made Practical - Situational attentional refocusing: shift from self to situation
In anxiety-provoking situations, actively redirect attention outward — to the task, the other person, the environment.
Metacognitive Therapy, Made Practical - Use a first-person kinesthetic perspective
Feel the movement from inside your body — do not watch yourself performing from outside.
Mental Rehearsal and Imagery, Made Practical - Write about your worries before a high-stakes performance
Offload performance anxiety by writing it out in full immediately before the event.
Choking Under Pressure, Made Practical - Accumulate mastery in low-stakes environments first
Collect your first successes where failure costs little — so the evidence base is strong before the stakes rise.
Mastery Experiences
Related concerns
- How To Stop Thinking Too Much During Performance
Install a deliberate interruption cue that breaks self-critical rumination before it compounds.
Use thought-stopping to interrupt negative self-talk spirals
- External Attention Social Situations
Direct your focus to what the other person is saying and feeling, not to how you appear.
Shift attention outward during social situations
- External Focus Of Attention During Conflict
External focus of attention — directing attention to the intended effect of a movement (where the ball goes, where force is applied) rather than to body mechanics — consistently outperforms internal focus for both skill learning and execution. Gabriele Wulf’s OPTIMAL theory proposes two mechanisms: external focus activates automatic motor control processes, and it enhances competence need satisfaction. Effect sizes in controlled experiments are moderate to large.
- How To Get Over Performance Anxiety In Sports
Use targeted techniques to reduce arousal when anxiety or over-activation is undermining performance.
De-activation Strategies for Over-Arousal
- How To Mentally Prepare For Performance
Mentally rehearse the execution process — not the outcome — as part of your preparation sequence.
Include a brief process imagery step in your routine
- How To Stop Overthinking During Performance
Offload performance anxiety by writing it out in full immediately before the event.
Write about your worries before a high-stakes performance
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