A competition is a challenge, a reward, and a lesson — not a report card. The prize list depends on who else showed up and how they played, so it is the least reliable measure of your progress. Judge your success by the things you control: your preparation, your composure, and how close you came to your realistic best.
You never rise to the level of your hopes — you drop to the level of your preparation. Do the hard skill work weeks in advance, then taper into dress-rehearsal run-throughs so competition day is just doing what you've already been doing. Nothing gets better on the day itself.
Always record your performance, and time your warm-up in advance. A phone in your sporran captures the chanter, which is what matters. And rehearse your warm-up with a stopwatch until you know you can be ready in 20 minutes — then on the day, follow your plan and do not deviate.
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Competing for the First Time: Everything You Need to Know
1h 8m · Full class available to Inner Circle members
14:09a is: lesson competition reward, challenge, What🔒
17:33I do to Reframing this nerves: get🔒
20:50is competition not What a🔒
22:02performance a The five of outputs🔒
23:47least Why list prize matters the🔒
26:56your to recording back Listening🔒
31:55setups Recording mic and placement🔒
42:44success Defining and preparation the rule🔒
45:46entries grades, Logistics: and events,🔒
48:23into run-throughs Tapering dress-rehearsal🔒
51:40stewards, timing order Competition of warm-up day: play,🔒
01:03:31and simple Follow plan it keep your🔒
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