Pressure Pop Your Cork?/Live It!

So what of Tulowitzki? The Rockies pulled out one more run to win the game and sweep the Phillies to move into the National League Championship Series. Tulowitzki's strike out wasn't fatal to the team, nor I suspect to the Rookie of the Year candidate's career.

So, the first lesson of keeping your cool under pressure: Realize that the stakes aren't your life! Mistakes happen, we don't always win. But life doesn't end because of it. How you respond is what counts. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try again. Use the experience to grow into someone better and stronger. Try again until you succeed.

Other thoughts:

• Think ahead about what it will take to do an excellent job. It's not the win. It's doing your best that represents success.


• Concentrate on the basics of what you're doing. Don't concern yourself about the results. If you take care of the basics, the results will take care of themselves.


• Focus on the moment. Don't drift. Don't think about either failure or success. What matters is what you're doing in the moment.


• Understand that people in the audience are on your side. Most of them would never be in your shoes and they don't want to witness a crash and burn. They are secretly rooting for you. Smile at them and they'll smile back.


• Plan ways to get some wins. Whatever plagues you (like a fear of speaking), find some ways to practice in a less threatening environment and get some wins. Practice and small successes breed confidence that will pay off later.
  

One of the first motivational films I saw was done by a psychologist who had a fear of heights. This was a lady who threw up at the thought of high places. To conquer this fear, she parachuted out of a plane. But not until after many hours of practicing jumping out of the plane while it was still on the runway.

She also took courage from her instructor who told her why he wasn't afraid of jumping out of a plane: "I pack my own chute." Prepare, practice, and focus. You'll do fine.

See you next week.

Pressure Pop Your Cork?/Go Deep

I really felt for Tulowitzki. Under the pressure of the moment, he struck out, hitting the ground with his bat in frustration. A lost opportunity. Men left on base. Inning over.

He's not alone. How many times do we see the NFL kicker miss the field goal after the opposing coach "freezes" him? How many times do we see the star NBA player miss the 3-pointer at the buzzer? What causes us to lose it when the pressure is on?

Based on my own experience, here's one theory: Fear leads to loss of focus which leads to failure which confirms the fear.


Fear. When I was practicing, I simply enjoyed the activity. I didn't think about what I was doing--it was play. And my performance was really pretty good. But when the game was on the line, when an audience was watching, fear moved to the front of the brain. Fear can be an overpowering emotion that breaks your concentration, clouds your judgment, momentarily erases your memory, and drops your performance in the dumper.

So what was I afraid of? Failing. Worse yet, failing in front of an audience. Everything I had learned, everything I'd practiced flew out the window when fear walked through the front door.

Focus was a no-show at that point. Rather than concentrating on the task at hand, I focused on the impending failure, the embarrassment, the disappointment. I started adding my own personal pressure to an already difficult situation. My train of thought derailed and my performance went along for the bumpy ride.

Inevitably, I would fail in the attempt. What a hit to the ego!

If you're not careful, if you don't find a way to turn it around, this pattern can move you into a downward spiral of repeat failures and it becomes difficult to ever get back on the winning trail.

The good news is you can change this pattern in your life. I did. Friday, I'll share some of the things I learned over the years and some of the techniques I've used to keep my head while under pressure.

Pressure Pop Your Cork?/Think About It

If you were watching the third game of the Colorado Rockies-Philadelphia Phillies National League Division Series this past weekend, you saw a situation unfold that was the very definition of pressure.

With a win, the Rockies would sweep the series. It was the seventh inning. The score tied. Colorado second baseman Kaz Matsui was at bat. Two outs. Matsui had burned the Phillies with a two-out RBI in the fifth, so they intentionally walk him. Next up? Rookie shortstop Tory Tulowitzki.

Now, what were the Phillies saying to Tulowitzki? "We think we can take you on and beat you. We know what Matsui can do, but we don't think you have what it takes."

Talk about pressure! I don't know about you, but this used to be automatic CHOKE country for me. For much of my young life, these situations brought on brain freeze. On the practice field, I would win the shortstop position. On the day of the game, I couldn't snag the easiest grounder. At music lessons, my play was perfect. At the recital, I would freeze on stage.

What about you? Does pressure put you off your game or, worse, bring on lock jaw? Think about why and we'll go deeper on Wednesday.