What I learned this week:  This part is so good - the part where you reflect about what happened in your recent performance.  It could be a work or with an athletic event or something you have been working up to for years.  How did you perform?  Dr. Zinsser from The Confident Mind has a bunch of questions to help you reflect and then gain the most confidence even after your performance.  

In military terms it is called the AAR - after action reivew or the what, so what and now what

Step one - The What - review what happened in a very non judgemental way.  Like you are watching it in a video.   Start with the general and then go to the specific.  You do you best to be honest about the best part and worst part of your performance or of whatever you were doing that you are now reflecting upon. 

Here are the list of questions Dr. Nate Zinsser suggests that you use as you are reflecting.

Step One - What Happened? 

1. What was the result? 

2. How well did you execute? Look back nonjudgmentally on your “mechanics.”  What would a neutral observer or a camera record?

3. How well did you maintain the right state of mind?  Overall did you perform with confidence and the right combination of calmness and urgency? In general did you win a First Victory?

4. Woe well did you follow you CBA routine as the performance went on? How many small First victories did you win? How much of the time were you fully present and operating out of informed instinctiveness?

5. Where did you slip out of the present, confident state? When you did slip out, did you pull yourself back quickly or allow these moment to drag out?

6. Where in the performance did you feel like you were really in your “zone”?

7. Where were your highlights? Put this performance through your mental filter and extract the valuable nuggets: (top plays or best moments)

8. What’s the one moment you’d like to have back? 

Remember to have more good stuff than bad - after losing it should be 80% gems and 20% junk

After winning - 40% junk and 60% gems

Step two - SO What - Does all that tell you?   Here are the following questions you can reflect upon after all of your refecting on what happened. 

1. What does that information tell you about yourself as a performer right now? What strengths and weaknesses did this performance reveal?

2. What do you know right now that you could not have known before playing this last game, giving this last concert, making this last presentation?

3. What are the lessons that this last performance is trying to teach you? Or What you have learned from this performance?

Step Three -  Now What are you going to do about it?

Rephrase any new learnings into statements - first person, present tense and positive

Get to work on yourself - do the drills or the research or whatever you felt like you needed to work on.

Envision the success you want next time you are in the spotlight. 

Try it - this really does take help you learn from the experience.  

As we finish up this book - I hope one thing that you have learned through this experience is that you can CHANGE YOUR MIND.   Just like the bus driver story from the end of the book - I hope you are having a good day, but if you are having a bad day - CHANGE YOUR MIND.  And one things to add is to look for the best of yourself.