Performing under pressure, whether it’s me or anybody else, is the same. You know, I have the same pressures as anyone else. There’s time, there’s performance, there’s financial. I mean, there’s deadlines. My pressures are not unique. Everybody has the same kinds of pressures. But what I found, or, what I find fascinating is the interpretation of the stimuli.

Let me explain. So, I was watching the Olympics, this last summer Olympics, and I was amazed at how bad the questions were that the reporters would ask all the athletes. And, almost always, they would ask the same questions whether they were about to compete, or after they competed: “Were you nervous?” Right? And to a tee, all the athletes went – no! Right? And what I realised is it’s not that they’re not nervous, it’s their interpretation of what’s happening in their bodies. I mean, what happens when you’re nervous? Right, your heart rate starts to go, you know, you sort of get a little tense, get a little sweaty. You have expectation of what’s coming and we interpret that as “I’m nervous”. Now what’s the interpretation of excited? Your heart rate starts to go, you’re anticipating what’s coming, you get a little, sort of like tense. It’s all the same thing, it’s the same stimuli.

Except these athletes, these Olympic quality athletes, have learned to interpret the stimuli that the rest of us would say as nervous, as excited. They all said the same thing: “No, I’m not nervous, I’m excited.” And so, I’ve actually practiced it just to tell myself when I start to get nervous, that this is excitement, you know. And so, when I used to speak in front of a large audience and somebody would say: “How do you feel?” I used to say: “A little nervous”. Now when somebody says: “How do you feel?”, I’m like: “Pretty excited, actually.”. And it came from just, sort of, telling myself no, no, no, this is excitement. And it becomes a little bit automatic later on. But it’s kind of a remarkable thing. To deal with pressure by interpreting what your body is experiencing as excitement, rather than nerves. And it’s really, kind of effective. It makes you want to rush forward, rather than pull back. And yet, it’s the same experience.

Speaker:

Simon Sinek