How do you do well in stressful situations?
Recently I’ve been feeling very stressed out about competing with exceptional individuals. I have been out of the game for a while and I have a lot of self doubt, imposter syndrome, insecurities, and questions and concerns over how I will perform. I know the stress isn’t good for my health, and I know stress isn’t good for performance, so I know I need to address and reduce my stress in order to succeed. Back when I was in the game, some 10+ years ago, I was at the top, achieving greatness with no real feelings of stress. All I did was focus, execute, exceed expectations. So today I wondered: What did I do back then that I’m not doing today? In this article, I share my thoughts:
When I focus on the competition, I get stressed out. What are they doing? Are they better than me? How close to catching up to me are they?
When I focus on the outcome, I get stressed out. I can visualize what I want but I don’t see it in reality today, ahh! I know what details will tell me I’m done, but I don’t see those details now so that means I’m failing, ahh! After I achieve this, I can achieve even more by doing this and that. Wow, look at all the things I can’t have right now, ahh!
When I focus on the present reality, on the details that are true about today, on the actions that I can take today, I feel in control of the situation, I feel in control of my future, I feel in control.
When I trust my instincts and my training and my decisions, I am at peace knowing that this is the best I can do and if I succeed then it’s because of all the work prior to today and if I fail it’s because there’s more for me to learn in order to get what I desire.
When I accept the idea that there is more to learn, that I might not have attained the skills and knowledge and resources yet to succeed, but I have the opportunity to fail and recover stronger and try again, I can be at peace with the outcome.
At the end of the day, to succeed, there is only you and the present reality you are in. Direct your energy, attention, and focus there and you will achieve great things.
Subscribe to receive more advice to improve your life! Follow on Twitter, on Facebook, on Tumblr.