1. The 15-Second Principle

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"Everyone kept telling me to take it off," Johnny replied. "But I always kept winning. I was just following
my father's advice—never change a winning game and always change a losing one."
The coach responded, "Johnny, you are so fast and gifted that you have been winning in spite of the
knapsack, not because of it. Your self-imposed handicap finally caught up with you in this national event."
When Johnny arrived home, he kept thinking about what the coach had said. He decided to experiment by
running the next race with one less book on his back. To his amazement, he won the race in record time.
In each subsequent race, he kept lightening his load by taking an additional book out. Finally, he was
running and winning with an empty knapsack and then without the knapsack at all. He had learned his
lesson.
Perhaps there is a little bit of Johnny Knapsack in all of us. Many of us have become successful in spite of
our limiting habits, not because of them. We ignorantly drag extra baggage around (tension, abusive
substances, perfectionism, or a comfortable yet limiting habit), thinking that these extraneous patterns are
actually helping us to succeed.
Every now and then, use the 15-Second Principle to stop, look, and listen. Discover which elements are
absolutely necessary for your performing technique and which are unintentional encumbrances. Determine
if you can execute the same action or complete the same assignment with more relaxation, energy, focus,
and faith. By becoming aware of your restrictive habits and by slowly freeing yourself from these selfimposed
handicaps, you will be able to have more fun and freedom as you tap into more of your full
potential. Perhaps this is what "enlightenment" is all about.
The Elixir of Performing
A million-dollar cure-all for most performing ills is this: Regardless of how brilliantly or how poorly you are
performing, always be in the process of doing less. This advice can be applied to every area of our lives
(including sports, sales, performing arts, dating, and public speaking). This cure-all "tonic" can also be
described as the paradox of performing. In order to remain in your "flow" or regain your performing
balance and momentum, you must be willing to back off and do less. This would include changing your
focus, releasing tension, freeing yourself