What to Do After You Perform: Reset, Reflect, and Rebuild

You trained. You showed up. You gave it what you had. But now the moment is over—and what happens next could make or break your confidence.

Whether you won, lost, or landed somewhere in between, how you handle the after matters more than most people realize.

In this post, we’ll walk through five steps to help you recover faster, reflect with purpose, and reset your mental game after any performance.

Step 1: Regulate First, Review Second

Before you evaluate how it went, you need to land. Your body is still buzzing from adrenaline or sinking into crash mode.

Do this first:

• Walk, stretch, or gently move your body

• Try 3 rounds of 4-2-6 breathing (inhale 4, hold 2, exhale 6)

• Sit down and feel your feet on the floor. Breathe into your back.

Why it matters: You can’t reflect clearly when your nervous system is dysregulated. Regulate first—then review.

Step 2: Reclaim Your Identity

Right after a performance, your inner critic gets loud. It tells you that you always mess up, that you’re not ready, that you blew it.

Instead, reclaim the truth:

• One thing you did well

• One way you showed courage

• One way you want to grow—without shame

Say this: “That was a moment. It’s not the whole story.”

You are not your last outcome.

Step 3: Reflect with Powerful Questions

Avoid vague spirals like "What went wrong?" Instead, use specific questions to train your awareness:

1. What worked?

2. What threw me off?

3. What helped me recover?

4. What will I try next time?

5. Who was I being out there?

Answering these helps you grow without judgment.

Step 4: Create a Bounce-Back Plan

Spiraling happens when we don’t know how to move forward. Here’s how to close the loop:

• Set a reset window (5 mins, 1 hour, or 1 day)

• Move your body, eat a meal, connect with someone

• Choose one focus for your next practice or event

Let your system know: the moment is over, and we’re moving forward.

Step 5: Celebrate, Then Release

Even if it wasn’t perfect—you showed up. Honor it.

• Write it down

• Say it out loud

• Anchor it with a small ritual (like music, movement, or mantra)

Then? Let it go. You don’t need to carry this performance into the next one.

Want Help Bouncing Back Faster?

Take my free quiz at CornholeMeesh.com/quiz to discover your dominant performance state and get personalized tools to help you reset, reflect, and rebuild with confidence.

You don’t have to keep spiraling. You can recover with purpose.