Use Pressure To Be Successful

By Mike Mahler

The human body functions at a higher level when stimulated by pressure. —John Elliot, Ph.D. , The New Science Of Working Less To Accomplish More

Many people try to avoid pressure, not realizing pressure is the thing that keeps you sharp and focused. When the pressure is on, you're not thinking about anything else but the task at hand. Let's say you're given a tough assignment due tomorrow versus a tough assignment due in a month. The former will stimulate pressure, which can create incredible levels of adrenaline and energy to get the job done, while the latter will likely result in procrastination. After all, you've got a month so there's no urgency to get started. But the problem isn't with pressure itself, only our interpretation of it. Many of us have been led to believe we perform best when we're calm and relaxed, i.e., if we feel any stress at all, it's a sign we're unprepared. The key is interpreting pressure as exhilarating rather than a debilitating stress, because pressure is a natural confidence-builder that can help us focus on the moment. When you're performing at your best, you're fully engaged in the moment, not thinking about what you'll be doing later.

Many years ago, I worked for a company and had to give a sales presentation to a group of prospects. I was told a week in advance and spent the entire week preparing for the presentation. I practiced in the mirror, memorized all my points, and did some visualization techniques in which I went over the entire lecture in my head. The point of all of this was to help me relax so that I wouldn't be stressed before the presentation. My plan was the more I practiced, the more relaxed I'd be before and during the presentation and it worked: the day of the presentation I was relaxed and even somewhat excited to do it...but things took a turn for the worse when it came time to perform. Five minutes into the presentation, the pressure started cooking, which made me worry, which in turn made me go blank. I started sweating profusely as I tried to remember what to say next. The minutes felt like an eternity as I tried--to no end--moving forward with the presentation. Finally, my manager came up and saved me, which was more embarrassing than blanking out.

What did I do wrong? It wasn't lack of preparation that led to my demise that day. No, it was failure to use pressure to perform better. Instead of taking the pressure and using it, I got worried by the feeling of pressure and choked big time. Further, I took the presentation too seriously: instead of going in intending to have a good time, I just wanted to get through it. Instead of viewing the pressure as a support tool, I saw it as a sign I wasn't ready and my performance followed accordingly. I interpreted going blank as another sign I wasn't ready and shut down accordingly. The reality is public speakers go blank all the time, but they don't panic or see it as a sign of failure--something I'd learn down the road.

In The New Science Of Working Less To Accomplish More, John Elliot provides a great example of the benefits of pressure with1950's NBA player Bill Russell. Bill was regarded as the best basketball player of the time and had the unusual habit of throwing up before every game; he was so nervous before games he puked his guts out. Oddly enough, Bill would go on to have a great game after each purging session. One day, to his surprise, he felt great before a game and didn't have the urge to vomit; the other players congratulated him. Unfortunately, he went on to have the worst game of his career. He continued playing one poor game after another and the press reported Bill was washed up and that his best days were behind him. As Bill continued having poor games, he started believing what the press was writing. The stress started building again until finally, before a game, Bill had to run into the bathroom to vomit again. He then realized the connection between pressure and performing well and felt a sign of relief. The “butterflies” Bill felt before each game were a sign he was ready to go. He went on to have an exceptional game and his team, the Celtics, won their eighth straight title.

It's ironic we avoid the very thing stacking the odds of success in our favor. Pressure is an extra source of energy kicking in whenever we do something important. It's our body's way of saying it knows that what you're about to do is important and that it's there to support you and give you what you need. I finally understood this after I bombed the sales presentation. My manager understood as well and knew the best thing for me was to get back in front of the room as soon as possible, and so I was scheduled to give a presentation the following week. The thing people fear most about public speaking is blanking out and looking foolish, but that had already happened so there was no need to fear it and, as lame as that experience was, it wasn't the end of the world. When it came time to do the next presentation, instead of trying to suppress the energy surge that came with pressure, I decided to use it and went on to give a great presentation.

I've done a lot of pubic speaking over the years and before each presentation I am always nervous. More often than not, the night before, I don't sleep well. I've taught many workshops where I didn't sleep at all the night before yet those have been some of my best. I actually enjoy the nervous energy that comes before each presentation, as I'm fully alive in those moments. The nervous energy focuses the mind and keeps you in the present, fully engaged in what you're doing. When the pressure isn't there, you can drift all over the place.

Last year, I experienced the physical performance-enhancing benefits of pressure when I sponsored a kettlebell clean-and-press contest in San Diego for charity. The contest was for maximum reps with two 70-lb. kettlebells. My personal best was fourteen reps before the contest but o my surprise, at the contest I easily blasted through fourteen reps and finished off with nineteen reps. I think I could've gotten more reps if I'd focused on the task at hand, but I couldn't believe how light the bells felt and started thinking about it around rep eighteen. Sure enough, rep nineteen felt very heavy and it was the last rep. Still, the pressure of performing with people watching was a real energizer. For this same reason, I'm always stronger at my workshops than at my own workouts.

The pressure that comes along with other people watching can result in enhanced performance--if you let it. The key, again, is to welcome the energizing pressure and transfer the energy to whatever you're doing instead of allowing it to stress you out. For once the energizing pressure is created, you have to use it--failure to do so results in plain old stress. Thus if you have to give a lecture and decide to cancel last minute due to the high level of pressure you're interpreting as stress, your end result will be even more stress. Once energy is created, it can't be destroyed, only transferred, or in this case, displaced. Failing to transfer the energizing pressure results in internalizing it, so instead of pressure turning into exhilaration, it turns into destructive stress.

What's more stressful than feeling pressure, is feeling no pressure at all. As human beings we're born to push the limits of what we are capable of and to take risks--that's where a deeper experience of life is found. There's no excitement in taking the path of least resistance and avoiding growth opportunities, yet many of us look hopefully toward future days in which we'll no longer have pressures, failing to realize that pressure is what makes us feel completely alive. Think of those times in your life wherein you were given a difficult task and rose to the occasion--remember the super-energizing feeling of accomplishment and vitality that followed? We end up talking about them in the past tense to keep the feeling of being alive going, but that's not enough. The pressure that vitalizes us comes from playing the edge of the unknown--not from what we've already accomplished.

Think of times when you surprised yourself accomplishing something that you didn't realize you were capable of. Those are life's amazing moments, yet instead of embracing them we'll retract, trying to avoid the pressure.

What is the excitement in watching a movie in which you already know what's going to happen? Your life is no different. Next time you feel pressure, welcome it and embrace it. Enjoy the feeling of being fully alive and welcome the feeling as often as possible.