Practicing at 3 am

Have you ever played a musical instrument or sport, and practiced at 3 am?

When I was preparing for a violin competition, I knew performing for my teacher and friends in ideal conditions was the easy part.

The hard part was performing well when conditions were poor, the stakes were high, and the pressure was on.

I practiced performing under different scenarios.  I practiced performing when I had no time to warm-up (after dipping my hands in ice-cold water), after doing 30 push-ups to pump up my adrenaline, and even at 3 am half-asleep, right after the alarm clock woke me up!

When you have a high stakes presentation or conversation, maybe about a promotion, cutting your workload, or talking to your in-laws, how do you prepare?

What signs of pushback are you looking for and what strategies do you have in place to keep the dialogue open and productive?

Thanks for caring!

With gratitude,

Anwell Tsai