Pressure & Nerves: When performing.

I remember my Head of Media looking over at me while the First Minister of Northern Ireland addressed the press. He mouthed, "Aren't you nervous?" I smiled and shook my head in response. I loved it.

Earlier that day, I had taken a short flight from London City Airport to Belfast. We were staging a tournament at Clandeboye Golf Club later in the season, the Chairman and Captain of the club had invited me over to give a speech. I had no idea at the time what awaited me.

A car picked me up from the airport, and the driver mentioned how impressed he was with the number of press members who had turned out. Upon arrival, I was stunned to see the BBC, UTV and local press were all ready for the speeches—some 20-30 journalists with cameras, lights, and microphones awaited to hear me speak. How exciting! But it wasn’t all for me; the First Minister of Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster, was on her way. The Deputy First Minister, who would later become her successor, Michelle O’Neill, was also set to speak. I was to say a few words at the end to close the speeches.

When my time came, I walked to the podium and looked at all the press. It was a great sight. I began speaking without notes. I was passionate about telling the world why we were there. I spoke for 20 minutes, which was twice as long as the professionals, and finished with a fist pump. The crowd loved it!

Two months later, I landed once again, this time to attend the tournament my team and I were hosting. Instead of going to the golf course, my driver took me to the hotel. “You need to prepare for your speech,” I was told. I met my team in the bar and asked them what was happening. “We are off to Stormont tonight; you are speaking!”

Two hours later, I was sitting with my colleagues at Stormont, the home of Northern Ireland politics. We were honoured and extremely thankful. The room was filled with 300 people who were there to celebrate sport in the country and the PGA EuroPro Tour. They had asked me to speak. Following the headline speeches, my name was announced—it was my turn. I walked slowly through the crowd on my way to the stage. Once there, I held both sides of the podium and looked up, I was in a room of extremely influential individuals, cameras, and bright lights, and I just spoke. No notes, no preparation. I loved it. In the end, they couldn’t get me off. I was so passionate about what I had to say; I loved every single moment. For 30 minutes, I talked without stopping. I made them laugh and smile, and I finished with a motivational quote or two.

I returned to my table, and my tournament director said to me, “Wow! You didn’t look nervous at all.”

“No,” I said, “I loved it.”

“Doesn’t it scare you that all these people are here?”

“Why?” I asked, “Aren’t they here to hear me speak?”

This may sound over confident and cocky but in fact it's simply called reframing.

This newsletter is all about pressure and nerves when performing. It’s about knowing how to reframe your beliefs and the demands you are facing in order to create confidence. For me, having the opportunity to speak in front of the UK press and the leading politicians in Northern Ireland was a phenomenal experience and one I would never forget. I should have been?nervous,?most people would have refused to speak, but?I reframed it, as far as I was concerned they were lucky to be here to hear me speak!?

This made me excited, not anxious. I knew I had the skill and the resources to fill the room with my voice and personality, and I knew the crowd, no matter who they were, would love to hear me and would leave, one day telling their children they once saw Dan Godding. With that reframe, it was impossible to feel nerves.

So….."What is pressure?"

The way we experience pressure varies from person to person. The feeling of pressure is created by our thoughts and beliefs about a situation and the demands we feel we may be facing. By changing our beliefs, we can effectively manage the demands and therefore the pressure we feel. This sounds easy on paper, but when standing in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley?at an FA Cup final, the feeling is very real and can greatly impact performance.

We don't have to be a world-class athlete or a musical superstar to feel pressure though. There are many times every day when we might feel pressure; it can change us in an instant and greatly affect our personality and ability.

In Time Management, pressure can also cause a great impact on your workflow. There is an old saying that says failing to plan, is planning to fail and I will do another newsletter in the coming weeks discussing how we can avoid pressure at work. This week, I want to talk about the pressure we face when we are asked to perform. However, there are many points within this document that can help you at work also.

What may cause pressure for some individuals, can bring confidence to others. Understanding what pressure is, and how and why we feel it, can certainly help us overcome it.

By working on a number of tools to help adjust the beliefs, and the way we shape our thoughts, regarding the demands we believe we feel that are required from us, we can reduce and help eliminate the feeling of pressure.

In sports, pressure can be utilised by athletes. Pressure is often accompanied by the feeling of nervousness, which is our body's way of signalling that we are prepared and equipped to perform.

When we fell pressure, question "What are the demands that are being asked of me, and do I have the resources to face them, if not, can I change the demands?"

Resources are simply the skills you possess. Your resources are a result of the hundreds of thousands of hours you have been alive, and the thousands of hours of practice and time spent mastering a skill. Your resources are stored within your subconscious and are available on request. Each time we practice we build our resources and the stronger the resources, the better equipped we are.

If I asked you to walk down a plank of wood that was 2 feet wide and a foot off the ground, you would have no problem. You would think to yourself, "I have walked in a straight line for years, and I can do this easily." In your subconscious you have saved the resources you need to walk.

However, if I lifted that plank 50 feet above a swamp filled with crocodiles, you would suddenly start to question your abilities. All I have changed is the situation; the demands are still the same, yet your beliefs and your fear of falling have greatly impacted your feelings and therefore now, the demand does not match the resources available.

See it as A) Situation, B) Belief, and C) Feelings.

It is human nature, in a state of urgency, anger and fear, to go directly from situation (A) to feelings (C) without truly identifying the belief (B) that caused us to feel the resulting emotions.

There are five steps we can take to analyse, change, or remove a belief that will help change our cognitive thinking:

1. Recognise the Belief.

?? - What am I telling myself about the situation to feel this way?

?? - What belief do I have that is making me feel this feeling?

?? - Is my thinking real?

?? - What are the real demands I am facing, and do I have the resources and knowledge available to perform as required?

2. Evidence.

?? - What is the evidence to back my feeling?

?? - Has the worst ever happened, and, if it did, should I react in this way?

?? - What did I learn from last time?

?? - Was it good for me to feel this way, or is there more time?

3. Logic.

?? - Is my thinking destructive?

?? - Does it help me, does it help others?

?? - Is my feeling positive?

?? - Where is my feeling going to get me?

?? - Will it benefit me and my ecology?

?? - How is my current thinking working for me?

4. Replace.

?? - Can this belief be replaced with another emotion, a reframe, and do I need to think smarter and more realistically?

?? - Can I use a different way of thinking to make me feel better and more constructive??

?? - I know I have the resources, so how can I alter my belief and understanding about the situation to better suit my abilities and?create?excitement??

5. Commitment.

?? - Once you have highlighted the belief and asked if there is another way of thinking, and concluded there is, commit to the change and take the discipline to remove the belief.

Let's discuss the three states that we fall into when performing our tasks: Threat, Challenge, and Arrogance.?

The Threat State can quickly lead to panic or stress. When we perceive a threat, our body can actually harm itself by slowing down the flow of oxygen. Threat simply means that the demands being placed upon us are more than the resources we believe we have available, so we begin to panic. The threat state is at the very core of pressure. We build up the demands to outweigh our abilities, and we begin to question our capabilities and the time we have available. This can also lead to and be the cause of some anxiety.

The Challenge State occurs when the resources we have available are equal to or outweigh the demands being required from us. The first sign of the challenge state is the feeling of nervousness. With increased blood flow and heightened senses, we are repeating a skill learned thousands of years ago, which was used to help defend us in life-or-death situations. We release glucose for energy, and our heart pumps oxygen to fuel our muscles, preparing us for battle. Our body is not fearing the situation; it is telling us we are ready. When you feel the challenge state, subconsciously, you know you have what it takes to win. The body doesn't lie. This state is perfect for performing at our best, as it indicates that we have the right resources to conquer the challenge and should give us overwhelming confidence.

Arrogance is not a good state to be in, and if felt, it needs to be altered before you lose the contest and fail to deliver. It happens when the demands are believed to be much less than the resources available. In this state you will hear "I've got plenty of time", "I don't need to practice", "It's only short report I don't need to research". In this state, there are no nerves. However, it accompanies overconfidence, which is detrimental in sports and business. Arrogance can cause athletes to neglect proper preparation and hinder their ability to enter the optimal performance zone. This is where great athletes can be vulnerable to unknown opponents, and in the past, it has been the cause of great losses and missed opportunities.

If you find yourself in either the threat state or the arrogant state, it is possible to shift back to the challenge state by adjusting what you believe to be the demands placed upon you and using smart thinking to analyse the demands correctly.

Ask yourself: Are the demands I believe to be present real? Are they urgent and important? Are they life-threatening? Can I simplify the task? Have I correctly prepared myself for the challenge? Have I understood all the threats that may be present, and have I reacted to them appropriately? Am I being realistic? Is there another way of looking at the situation that is more reasonable? Is there anything I can do to change my perception of the demands I believe I am facing?

In other words, a 3-foot putt on the final green of the Ryder Cup in front of 50,000 fans and a global TV audience of 1 billion is, in fact, still a 3-foot putt. A golfer in this situation is best to go through the usual process of their pre shot routine, and then trusting their ability to hole the putt. The pressure is only a result of the demands we create in our minds.

Remember, before allowing yourself to feel an emotion, ask: What are my beliefs about the situation that could be shaping my feelings? Are they real? Am I using smart thinking? Do I need to re-evaluate my thoughts on what is being required of me to alter my feelings? Are my beliefs good for me? Do I need to change my beliefs?

When you are confident you have the resources to meet the demand, when you know you have done all you can to prepare for what you are facing, then you are in the perfect mindset to achieve your best performance.

Good luck.

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www.danielgodding.com