“The Absolute Best Of The Best”: 40 Of The Most Talented People

In recent years, talks about personal accomplishments have been increasingly echoing the term growth mindset. According to the idea, it's the constant, incremental improvement that leads to success.

In other words, if you focus on perfecting the process instead of chasing results, the latter will naturally follow as a byproduct of your dedication.

So if you started working on a new project with expensive materials and little room for mistakes, it could be helpful to break down the task into smaller, manageable steps, providing yourself with opportunities to learn and improve along the way. 

"All too often people when preparing for an event or performance think about all that could go wrong," psychotherapist and performance coach Jonathan Alpert told Bored Panda. "That only muddies their mindset, interfering with focus, and distracts them."

"Instead, focus on strengths — what do you bring to the event or performance? — that is the many weeks or even years of preparation, and the desire to achieve success, and expertise," the author of 'Be Fearless: Change Your Life in 28 Days' added.

Alpert, who works with many elite performers and leaders, suggests to "play it out in your mind and visualize the steps you will take on your big day."

"When you start to doubt yourself that only destabilizes your belief in yourself. Think of your belief as a table top with four legs. When you feel doubtful it is the equivalent of going over that table, grabbing a leg, and shaking it — it will make that table top (belief) less strong and less stable because you introduce negative thoughts into your mindset," he explained.

However, it's not just the preparation for and your performance that matter. You can also incorporate rituals or practices after you're done with it to improve further.

"It's not a bad idea to review your performance and try to understand what went well and what areas to work on," Alpert said.

"A performance can be diagnostic in some ways as it reveals what can be done to improve your game. Don't see any area of deficiency as a weakness, but rather as an opportunity for improvement that will make you stronger."