Performing is no “ordinary” activity, even if you do it week in, week out, because to be at your peak and to deliver 150% at your highest potential, you need to have lots of practice and preparation under your sleeves!

I admit, it’s hard to practice when you’re in front of mirror or just with yourself – it just isn’t same as if you were with people or on stage. No matter how much you sing or drum to yourself in front of mirror, it doesn’t come close to real thing so my simple tip here for best practice and preparation, is that once you properly know pieces you are performing, get yourself in front of some mics and begin playing in a big space that way.

Well, I’m sorry to say that without these distractions, life would just be plain boring and we can’t get rid of them BUT there is a solution, a technique we can use to minimise their impact on us, and this technique is used by best musicians around. Here’s strategy... by accepting distractions and then consciously choosing to focus our awareness elsewhere, we can increase our awareness of music and lessen amount of frustration we feel at distractions. We should choose a focus for our awareness in present moment and not wander off into past or future. When we are aware of what’s happening in present moment, our concentration develops and things seem to improve almost effortlessly. As a musician, best way to focus on present moment is to place our concentration and focus on our sight, hearing and feelings.

Did you know that Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps, winner of six goal medals and eight overall, likes hip-hop? And more so, when he was asked what he thinks about underwater apart from wanting to hit wall, he said "I'm singing a song in my head... whatever I was listening to before I got into water."

That's Michael's focus! What's yours?