What’s Honky Tonk Got To Do With Confidence?

Last weekend, we went to Nashville for a quick getaway.

Friday night we had tickets to a joint called The Listening Room and we got to hear a few songwriters sing some of their favorites.

One of the performers was Jen Schott whose songs have been recorded by Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, and Billy Ray Cyrus, to name a few.

Jenn sat on stage, strummed a few chords on her guitar and launched into song. 

And then she stopped.

“If I sing that song in that key, it's gonna be way too high.” she said as she looked down at her guitar and reconfigured the notes.  

And then she started over.

As soon as she started singing in the new key, the whole audience knew it was the right thing. 

Jenn knew she'd gotten off on the wrong foot. Maybe she was concerned about what other people would think about stopping once she'd already started - but if she was, she didn't let it stop her.

Because she knew that it was going to be better if she started over. She knew she was going to feel better if she started over. She knew she would perform better if she started over. And she owned it.

Give yourself permission to start over more often. We don't have to keep going in the wrong key or at the wrong speed or in the wrong direction. We don't have to let the beginning of a bad interaction define a relationship. We can ask to start over in a presentation if it gets off on the wrong foot.

Whether it's 5 words in or once the song is almost over - we all get to have do-overs whenever we're brave enough to ask for them.