The Performer's Energy Reservoir
Protect the reserves before the show, not after, because some of them do not replenish.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 8
- Confidence
- 92%
Tim frames the question through a mutual friend who works 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, and who could not conceive of doing what Jackman does even twice a week. Jackman's answer has two halves. The first is that the underlying energy is natural: he knows in his heart he was born to be on the stage, and he anchors it in his favourite line in film — Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire telling his sister that he feels God's pleasure when he runs. Because there is a natural energy there, it is not such a Herculean effort. The second half is the engineering, and it is entirely about protecting the reservoir. On Broadway he has a bunch of rules: no alcohol before, strictly limited after, because it matters enormously to wake up in a good frame of mind rather than in catch-up mode — if you wake wanting to go back to bed and you have to perform that evening, anxiety arrives and you will be withdrawing on reserves that are not replenishable. He never goes out after a show, as a blanket rule, because the party he has just had on stage is better than anything else he can imagine. He gets quiet to let the show's energy settle, and can be asleep within 45 minutes of coming off. He limits coffee because stage work means constantly battling dehydration. And he is religious about his pre-show routine, largely so his perfectionist monkey mind has nothing to accuse him of.
Origin
Built across Broadway runs and world tours, and shaped by his acting teacher Lyle Jones, who told him he could not call himself a real actor unless he exposed himself to ballet and classical music — the input side of an output-heavy craft.
Core principles
- 01Some reserves are not replenishable, so the discipline is preventing the withdrawal rather than repaying it afterwards.
- 02Waking up in a good frame of mind is the actual performance input; waking up in catch-up mode makes the evening's show a debt-funded effort.
- 03A blanket rule beats a case-by-case judgment, because case-by-case is where the exceptions live.
- 04The purpose of the pre-show routine is not physical readiness but denying the monkey mind any material — no missed warm-up for the perfectionist voice to prosecute.
- 05One minute of deliberate sensory connection before going on reorients you from your own state to the audience's.
- 06Every audience member is seeing the show for the first and probably only time, whatever number of times you have done it.
- 07Dedicating the performance to something beyond itself relieves the performance of having to justify itself.
- 08Output requires input: exposure to ballet, classical music, books and walks is the stock the giving-out draws down.
How to run it
- 1
Set the alcohol rules as rules
No alcohol before a performance, and really limited after. Jackman's reasoning is downstream: it is really important to wake up feeling in a good frame of mind rather than in that catch-up feeling.
Pro tip The rule protects tomorrow's show, not tonight's.
Watch out If you wake wanting to go back to bed and you have to perform that evening, anxiety arrives and you draw on reserves that are not replenishable.
- 2
Make not going out a blanket rule
Jackman does not go out after any show and says he hardly goes out with anybody — deliberately a blanket rule rather than a nightly negotiation. His justification is that the party he has just had on stage is better than anything he can imagine anywhere else.
Pro tip A blanket rule is socially easier to hold than a case-by-case no, because there is nothing personal to decline.
- 3
Get quiet and let the energy settle
It is really important to him to get quiet afterwards to allow what has happened — because there is a lot of energy — to come down. He describes being the only actor he knows who can be asleep within 45 minutes of getting off stage.
Pro tip He compares the state to the peace after a bath following a great workout — sit in it rather than chase the next stimulus.
Watch out Filling the post-show window with people and noise is exactly when the non-replenishable withdrawal happens.
- 4
Run the routine religiously — for the mind, not the body
Jackman knows exactly what his routine is before he goes on stage and is religious about it, and he is explicit that this is more about quieting his mind. He does not want the monkey mind saying he did not do his warm-up, only half did it, did not stretch, did not eat well today.
Pro tip The perfectionist side of him picks up on any gap, so the routine's real job is denying it ammunition.
Watch out Improvising the routine gives the inner critic a live case to prosecute during the show.
- 5
Take the minute in the wings
Literally before going on, Jackman takes a minute to pause and connect with the senses. Even when he is not in the opening of a show he stands in the wings and listens to the titter of excitement of people coming into the theatre, because he loves theatre himself and remembers being that person.
Pro tip Listening to the audience arrive is what converts nerves into obligation to them.
- 6
Remember whose first time it is
He reminds himself how privileged he is and how much he owes every single audience member: they are not coming to see his fourth show of the week, they are coming to see the show for the first and probably only time in their lives, and who knows what they sacrificed to get there.
Pro tip This single reframe is what makes repetition-number-four carry first-night intensity.
Watch out Performing to your own fatigue level rather than to their first-time expectation is how long runs go flat.
- 7
Dedicate the show to something beyond it
Jackman falls still and reminds himself this is all in service of something, saying a short dedication of the show to the service of the absolute. There has to be a reason beyond just the immediate thing.
Pro tip The dedication takes the weight of self-justification off the performance itself.
- 8
Feed the stores between shows
Jackman is quiet during the day of a show and deliberately reads and listens to other things. His acting teacher Lyle Jones told him you cannot call yourself a real actor unless you expose yourself to ballet and classical music — be inquisitive and curious and find inspiration in surprising places, even a walk in the woods.
Pro tip Performing is very much giving out, so the input has to be scheduled as deliberately as the recovery.
Watch out Cutting the input to make room for more rehearsal drains the same reservoir the rehearsal is meant to fill.
In the wild
Jackman says he thinks he is the only actor he knows who can be asleep within 45 minutes of getting off stage, and attributes it directly to the discipline of getting quiet rather than going out. He describes the state as calming — like the feeling after a bath following a great workout, where you can just sit and be at peace with yourself, and he says he loves it.
→ A full recovery cycle completed the same night, which is what makes eight shows a week sustainable rather than a slow drain.
Even when he is not in the opening of a show, Jackman stands in the wings and listens to the titter of excitement as people come into the theatre, because he loves theatre himself and remembers being on that side of it. It reminds him how privileged he is and how much he owes every single audience member — they are not coming to see his fourth show of the week, they are coming to see the show for the first and probably only time in their lives, and who knows what they sacrificed to get there. He then falls still and dedicates the show to the service of the absolute.
→ A repeatable 60-second conversion of pre-show self-focus into obligation to the room, applied identically on show four as on opening night.
Jackman's acting teacher Lyle Jones told him you cannot call yourself a real actor unless you expose yourself to ballet and classical music — that you should be so inquisitive and curious that you find inspiration from surprising places, which can be as simple as a walk in the woods. Jackman's own gloss is that this stuff feeds you so that in the act of performing, which is very much giving out, you have enough energy in the stores.
→ A deliberate input regimen that treats artistic curiosity as fuel accounting rather than as a luxury.
Common mistakes
Deciding about going out on a nightly basis
Jackman makes it a blanket rule precisely because per-night judgment is where exceptions accumulate. One good reason a week is enough to dismantle the whole recovery structure.
Waking in catch-up mode on a show day
If you wake up and just want to go back to bed and you have to perform that evening, anxiety comes in and you will be withdrawing on reserves that are not replenishable. The debt is not repaid by a good night's sleep afterwards.
Skipping or half-doing the pre-show routine
The routine's function is to give the perfectionist monkey mind nothing to say. Half-doing it hands the inner critic a live grievance to run during the performance, which is worse than not having a routine at all.
Performing to your rep count rather than their first time
Show four of the week is show one for everyone in the room. Losing that reframe is how a long run quietly degrades while the performer feels they are working just as hard.
Is it for you?
Best for
Anyone with a repeated, emotionally demanding public output — stage, teaching, sales, surgery, long tours of presentations — who has to be equally good on the fourth iteration as the first.
Not ideal for
One-off performances or roles where the social capital gained from post-event networking genuinely outweighs the recovery cost.
From the transcript
“in terms of self-care on broadway i have a bunch of rules”
“you're gonna be withdrawing on reserves that are not replenishable”
“i always i have i know what my routine is before i go on stage and i'm religious about it and that's more about quieting…”
“they're not coming in to see my fourth show of the week they're coming to see the show for the first and probably only time…”
From the episode
#444: Hugh Jackman on Best Decisions, Daily Routines, The 85% Rule, Favorite Exercises, Mind Training, and Much More