Most musicians grow up as perfectionists having to be better all the time. Living in a competitive environment, musicians are driven to play and create music as if their survival depends on it. It’s all about performance. This promotes normal stress and anxiety. I think there is a general fantasy among musicians that “When I am good enough then life will be good”. The problem here is perfectionistic drive and social conditioning to be strong and cope by ignoring your needs to feel valued and cared for. Expectations are driven by the nature culture of the music world and individual internal critic that criticizes every mistake. When the needs of the musician aren’t met on a relational level and personal level the musician strives for more recognition through performance. This can cause performance anxiety, a debilitating physical mental condition when on stage. The pressures of being perfect make most musicians believe they are never good enough. A musician can always improve their performance and know they are good enough.
