One of the most difficult things for athletes, or any performer, is how to pull through in high-pressure situations. So, in this post I’ll show you how I do it.
I’ve completed in high-pressure environments my entire life. I have a podcast (Mental Mondays) that talks all about this. I’ve coached tons of people through it. I’ve studied this.
So, I’ll show you how. Doesn’t matter if your game is business or sports, this post will show you how to pull through when it matters.
#1: The higher your anxiety, the worse you’ll perform
My number 1 tip: stop worrying bout that stuff that does not matter.
Spoiler alert: that’s most things.
When I would walk into the octagon (I did it 21 times), there was a whole bunch of stuff that didn’t matter.
The crowd. The people-watching. My opponent. All that matters is the gameplan that I prepared to do.
That’s it.
Research has repeatedly shown that the higher people’s anxiety, the worse they perform. And this is really challenging for many people, particularly type A people who worry about every little detail and make sure everything’s perfect.
But when you’re going to perform, you can NOT control most of the details. You can prepare, but there are so many things outside your control.
When you’re 6 weeks out of a competition, you have the ability to sweat the details. But when it’s time to compete, most things just don’t work.
So, remember…the higher your anxiety, the WORSE you perform. And MOST of the things you worry about do not matter.
#2 How to deal with adversity
I was undefeated in fighting for +10 years. I had retired and has a great career. But then, at the age of 34, I joined the UFC.
In my first fight in the UFC, on the biggest stage, there is, I shoot in to take Robbie Lawler (a former champion) down. 5 seconds in I had his back. Things were going good. Until they weren’t.
Less than a minute into the fight, Robbie lifted me into the air and slammed me, head first, into the ground. I was in a very bad spot.
How am I suppose to deal with this?
A lot of people fail in these situations. Why? Because it’s easy to keep going when things are great. That’s called front running. But…what separates the great competitors from the others is how they deal with adversity.
No one. Absolutely no one goes has a successful career with a ton of low points. It doesn’t matter how great they look. It happens.
So when I got slammed on my head and was getting blasted with punches, it would have been easy to think “1 million people are watching me get beat up.” But…that doesn’t help me. Does it?
Here’s what helps me: how do I get out of this? How do I get him off my back?
When we hit that adversity, and it’s not an if but a when, the goal is to not think backward, which is “how did I get here?” The goal is to think forwards. What can I do right now to improve the situation? What do I do next?
#3 Be discerning
The famous tennis Rafel Nadal is an outstanding competitor. He has a great book called Rafa that I love.
In his book, Rafel says something I love: you have to have the ability to be discerning.
In other words, I have to show good judgment.
In between each round of each fight I have 60 seconds to think about what’s going on. I ask myself the same three questions each time
- What was I doing in the last round that worked?
- What was I doing that didn’t work?
- And how do I make myself more effective?
A lot of competitors struggle because they think that they can’t be critical of themselves AND confident. That’s not true. You can be both at the same time.
A high effective performer needs a high level of discernment about the things that they’re doing that’s effective and things that are not.
They need to throw away their ego and get rid of the things that aren’t working and keep the things that are.
If nothing’s working, a new plan needs to be made.
Look at the recession we’re in. Maybe a few people saw it coming. But, the majority of people didn’t.
Would it be effective to complain that you didn’t see it coming? No.
What you need to do (if this impacts you), is to look at what mistakes you made to get yourself in this situation and what’s your gameplan to move forward. That’s it.
A lot of performers struggle to have a good judgment (discernment)because they think if they become to critical of themselves that that means you doubt your ability. But I think that’s nonsense. You can be both critical and optimistic while being confident.
If you’re looking for be an effective performer in a high-pressure environment, which we’re in right now, you need:
- Low anxiety — this is hard for a lot of people. But the lower your anxiety, the more likely you’ll perform better.
- Adversity —
- Discernment — focus on what you did to get into this situation and what you can do to improve. Most of the time is spent on current game plan. Ignore everything else.
I’ve used these three things forever. Winning NCAA’s, going to the Olympics, and being a high-level MMA fighter. That means that I’ve competed in high pressure situations literally thousands of times. And this framework, it’s done me wonders.
Hope this helps.
Want more?
People joke about how I don’t look like the other guys in MMA. My secret? At a young age I figure out how to how to create a mindset that didn’t just get me through challenging situations but helped me thrive.
In the next few weeks, I’m realizing a course and community for people who want to learn the psychology behind peak performance.
You can be in business, sports, relationships…whatever.
This course and community will teach you the skillset of using nervousness, self-doubt, and distraction as fuel for concentration and peak performance.
