Have you ever noticed that there are some things that you do during every second of every day in your life without even thinking about them? For example, regardless of who we are or where we are, we also breathe, blink and think alongside whatever other tasks we are engaged in.
Have you also noticed that whenever we begin to think about these actions or analyse them, these seemingly involuntary activities become considerably more difficult? For instance, if you were to count how many breaths you take in a minute, you’d suddenly find the process of breathing oddly unnatural.
While this may seem like a rather strange occurrence, it is actually quite common. In fact, we may all have experienced it at some point in our lives in different ways. This is the same phenomenon that manifests itself in the form of stage fright. It is the same phenomenon that results in a complete loss of all the information that you studied, right when you are seated to write an important exam. It is also the same phenomenon that results in professional sports persons failing to perform well despite practicing with great intensity for years.
The name of this phenomenon is pressure.
Pressure can be great or small, and it may affect people in different forms. For young people, the most common form of pressure is the pressure to perform well. This may be in their academics, sports, music or any other field. Regardless of its form, when pressure begins to become too great for an individual to handle, it can begin to have a negative effect on the individual and on their performance.
However, one fact about pressure is that it is often self-inflicted. Ed Jacoby, an author and coach once said, “Pressure comes from within and so must be mastered from within.”
It is natural to feel responsible to do well in an area that you have invested a lot of time and energy into. Yet, when the need to do well transforms into pressure that hinders your capabilities, then it becomes important to master a technique to combat the issue.
In order to remedy the problem, you must determine the exact source that invokes the feeling of pressure. Does it come from having restricted time? Does it come when you are in a specific location? Or does it come when you are being observed?
When you have understood the source, practice your skill in the presence of pressure. Soon, pressure will no longer be a painful disturbance, but simply a part of your test, performance or game.
Ultimately, pressure also needs to be handled from within. Slowly learn to manage your expectations for achieving, and ensure that you plan and understand what both success and failure means. Understand that there are no results or reactions from the people around you that can define who you are. Most importantly, ensure that you always plan your life in such a way that not meeting your expectations in a certain area will never affect your ability to attain success in the future.
