Watching athletes and stage performers play at their best, it is easy to conclude that emotion during performance is an asset. To the casual observer, top performers motivate themselves with emotion, allowing anger, frustration, and even self-contempt to light a fire and push them to new heights. If you have reached that same conclusion, you might have missed an important distinction.
Emotion clouds decision-making and redirects attention away from execution.
Even positive emotions during performance make maintaining focus extremely difficult. When emotions drive action, performers lose control. Instead of operating automatically, they begin to think consciously about what they are doing, becoming mechanical and stiff in the process. Displaying emotion during performance undermines focus and invites pressure to take a hold of our actions.
Study top performers more closely and you will recognize the difference between emotion and energy.
The best athletes and performers play with energy. They walk, speak, move, and execute with more passion, intensity, and precision. They became animated in a manner that allows them to concentrate and create a hyperfocus on execution. Higher energy during performance raises confidence and encourages performers to control emotions, while increasing the force of their actions.
The choice to execute with more energy results in a powerful expression of self-belief. By adding momentum to every movement, top performers use energy to galvanize the conviction necessary for success.
Unlike emotions, playing with energy creates enthusiasm without distracting from focus. As Oprah Winfrey likes to say, “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” Learn to play with energy, not emotion.
