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Nervous Doesn’t Mean You’re Not Ready – on:
Nervous Doesn’t Mean You’re Not Ready
I think artists sometimes make a costly mistake.
We feel nervous and assume the feeling is telling us something.
Maybe I’m not ready.
Maybe I need more time.
Maybe I’m not good enough yet.
Maybe I should wait.
But nerves and readiness are not the same thing.
You can be trained, rehearsed, experienced, and completely prepared — and still feel your mouth go dry five minutes before you step onstage.
I know because that happens to me.
I prepare hard for almost everything I do.
And I still get nervous.
When Your Body Has Other Ideas
Earlier this year, I keynoted the Metro Atlanta Film Summit.
I knew my material. I had prepared. I had years of experience underneath me.
And right before I went onstage, I was hit with a huge wave of fear.
My throat went dry. My body reacted. Suddenly the thing I had been preparing for was no longer somewhere in the future.
It was happening now.
That experience is familiar to many artists.
You can know intellectually that you are ready while your body is still saying:
This matters.
There is risk here.
People are about to see you.
That does not automatically mean something is wrong.
Sometimes nerves are simply evidence that you care.
“Do It Afraid” Needs a Qualification
One of my personal mottos is:
Do it afraid.
But I think we need to be careful with that phrase.
If you have not learned your lines, rehearsed the music, trained for the performance or done the preparation your craft requires, fear may actually be giving you useful information.
There is a kind of fear that says:
I have not done what I need to do yet.
And there is another kind that says:
I have done everything I reasonably can. Now I have to go.
Those are very different.
Earlier this year, I performed a ten-minute musical theatre solo at Art of Faith in Belgium.
I had not done that kind of solo performance for a while, so I was nervous.
I rehearsed hard.
But I also did something new.
I deliberately rehearsed while I was out of breath because I knew nerves could affect my breathing.
I wanted my preparation to include what my body might actually do under pressure.
I was not trying to remove every nervous feeling.
I was training myself to perform even if those feelings arrived.
Ready Does Not Mean Certain
I am also acting in a Christmas film right now.
I learn my lines. I prepare. I have years of training.
And could something still go wrong?
Of course.
I could forget a line.
A scene could change.
Another actor could give me something completely different from what happened in rehearsal.
That is part of being an artist.
Readiness is not the same as control.
At some point, preparation has to become trust.
Trust in the training.
Trust in the rehearsal.
Trust in the experience.
Trust that if something changes, you have enough underneath you to respond.
That is a much more useful kind of confidence than pretending nothing could possibly go wrong.
Ask a Better Question
Instead of asking:
Why am I nervous if I’m ready?
Try asking:
Am I actually unprepared — or am I prepared and simply feeling the normal nerves of doing something that matters to me?
Be truthful.
If you need more preparation, prepare.
Respect your craft enough to do that.
But if you have learned the lines, rehearsed, trained, studied, and done the work available to you, the feeling in your stomach may not be an instruction to stop.
It may simply be the feeling that comes before you go.
When I came offstage in Belgium, I felt enormous joy.
Not because I had managed to eliminate every nerve beforehand.
I felt joy because I had prepared, gone out there anyway, and done what I wanted to do with excellence.
You do not have to feel completely fearless before you begin.
Sometimes courage is taking everything you have trained for into the room with you — and going.
Go Deeper with Audacious Artistry
If this spoke to something in you, my book Audacious Artistry: Reclaim Your Creative Identity and Thrive in a Saturated World goes deeper.
You can also download the free 10-week group study guide and walk through the book on your own, with a friend or with a group of artists.
Find the book and free guide at: https://larabiancapilcher.com/book
It’s written for artists and creatives who still feel called to create but are tired of proving, comparing, waiting for permission, or wondering if their work still matters.
Read the book + get the free guide:
https://larabiancapilcher.com/book
This article is adapted from the Healthy Wealthy Wise Artist Podcast episode:
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Nervous Doesn’t Mean You’re Not Ready – on:
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With you as you keep creating,
— Lara Bianca Pilcher
Connect with Lara
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