Do you daily think that there is something that you need to fix internally or externally about yourself? I need to be better always. I should get my work done faster. I should run faster, speak faster, cycle faster. I should draw like Van Gogh. I should sing like Adele. I should be taller. I should be more confident. I should be a better leader. I should have more money. I should have a better house. I should look better. I should have nicer hair, nicer eyes, nicer feet, nicer nose…etc The shoulds go on and on. A constant internal clicking in you that says fundamentally something is not right and you need to be better. Are you exhausted yet?
There is a huge well-being movement around the world that on the outset is great but if you look closer is cleverly jumping on the back of many other advertising campaigns that highlight what is WRONG with us rather than what is right. We need to be better and constantly fix ourselves.
When it comes to the voice, it is exactly the same. We want our voices to be a certain way before we start singing or public speaking. It has to be exactly right and there is this expectation or perception it has to be perfect. What are you doing by thinking like that? You are stopping yourself from even singing or actually progressing. You are taking yourself away from the one greatest asset, your unique singing or speaking voice that is already great and perfect as it is right now. Imagine tomorrow that you could no longer sing or speak and today was your last day… now that is food for thought.
A wonderful quote from my Master’s dissertation. Sandra Reeve talks about how effective practice is to start with what is great already in you. She talks about how she does this when she works with dancers, but the same reflection can be used for the singing or speaking voice. “So I don’t look for the problem. I look for the points of what I call blossoming, what will really allow this person to blossom rather than looking at what’s getting in the way of this person moving. Why don’t we just support the positive? From the position of supporting the positive…then I think it is possible to say…OK and now try this or NOW try that or maybe let go of this as an experiment….what happens if you don’t do that….but its framed within ‘you are already absolutely fine as you are…what you do is wonderful. But if you would like to expand your vocabulary or your scope or experiment with something new. You need to change something small but not everything that you are, because where you are right now is just perfect”
I just absolutely love this quote. Today you have a wonderful voice and tomorrow you will too. Don’t let the thought of ‘I must fix everything about my voice before I start to sing or do some public speaking’. We don’t ask a baby to change anything. We don’t ask the sea to change its shape. We don’t ask a tree to grow differently. We just love the beauty that is in front of it just as it is, so why shouldn’t we do the exact same for ourselves. SING TODAY. GET PUBLIC SPEAKING. ASK FOR OPPORTUNITIES KNOWING THAT YOU ARE TRULY GREAT JUST AS YOU ARE ALREADY. You don’t need to fix anything.
If you would like more help to actually get you started when it comes to singing solo or speaking in public, check out our upcoming online courses and one2one sessions.
We would also love to hear from you if they found this tip useful, please email us at hello@simplysing.ie
