How To Shatter Self-Doubt and Fully Own Your Power
“I’ve learned that I’m most powerful when I’m doing my art”
Andre 3000
There are two things that have motivated me to sing pretty much all of my life, pleasure and power. But when I think about power I don’t mean power in the maniacal Despicable Me kind of way I mean power in the Moana “I have a special thing” kind of way. We all do. Performing can be a way to connect to your own power, your personal power and unique voice and story. It’s part of why I love teaching singing/songwriting from a holistic perspective..
Most people would love to feel more power in connection to their voice and even their body as a whole. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who said “I’d really love to feel less confident and powerful when I’m speaking or singing”. Even the “best” or “most talented”or skilled singers are open to accessing greater freedom as well as strength and authenticity when using their voices. But how do you do this? How do you go from wanting your music, presenting, communication and leadership skills to improve and actually arriving there?
Like most things (counter to what Capitalism, White supremacy and Patriarchy says) it’s often a bit of a zig zag path. In order to connect to your power, you need to own the fact that you want to feel your power and for some people just that might be uncomfortable or scary. But let’s assume you’ve identified that you want to own the power of your voice. Here are some steps to guide the process.
Step 1: Find a safe and supportive place to grow and explore your voice. A voice teacher, program, institute, school, class or even band to collaborate with on your singing journey.
Step 2: Establish a consistent vocal practice so you can start to experience the cumulative changes that will begin to happen with your vocal development.
Step 3: Make sure you have some form of accountability (this leads back to Step 1) for those inner voices that may pop up doubting you from time to time. Also, it’s equally important to have a group to celebrate your progress. Remember small wins matter just as much as the big ones.
Step 4: Connect to your body. Many singers forget this and it can also be one of the big challenges in performance anxiety. There are many ways to sense the whole of your physical/energetic body but I find slowing down and noticing your breath as well as your emotions is hugely helpful for you and your artistic expression.
Step 5:* Extra Credit: Bring all of this into your experience while singing. Bring your connection to your body, movement, breath and emotions into your song/performance.
Want some support with these steps? Find out more about my 3 month program here.