TWHS#077: "I`m Gonna Puke". Dealing With Nerves

"I`m gonna puke.  Get me that bucket."  The profound words of my daughter.

We've flown half way round the world and now everything comes down to the next 2 mins 30 seconds.

It's my second week in Florida chaperoning my daughter around two competitive cheerleading competitions.  Last night, their cheerleading team made the finals.  Whether they won or lost the Championship depended on a 2 minute 30 seconds routine.  All or nothing.

I`ll share with you what I shared with my daughter.

Because, whether you're about to get on the stage at the AWS Summit, try and land a vital demo with a client or nail a cheer routine - managing your nerves is an essential skill.  A skill that can be nurtured.  Something you can get better at.

Here's 2 key techniques that I shared with my daughter.  They'll help you handle your nerves and perform under pressure too.

Visualisation

The "Creeping Death" is that horrible time when you're waiting to do something.  Something you're really nervous about.

The time when your inner monologue goes into overdrive.  It tells you that you're gonna screw this up.  That you'll forget what you're doing.  That you'll get found out.

Replace those thoughts with detailed visualisation.  Imagine you're presenting at a big event like AWS Summit.

• Visualise how you'll get to the stage.
• What you'll do to start your presentation.
• Visualise the details and walk through the session in your mind.
• Don't give space for the negative thoughts to grow.
• This helps whether it’s a cheer routine, a big presentation or an important demo.

It's called Cognitive Displacement.  I first came across it on the High Performance Podcast.  Chris Hoy the Olympic Cycling legend talked through how he used the technique before gold medal winning races.

Replace all those nervous thoughts with a practical visualisation of what you'll do and how you'll do it.  I use it all the time and it's brilliant.

Breathing

If you're having a bit of a freak out.  Calm yourself down. 

Nothing helps calm yourself down like breathing.  Control your breathing and you'll lower your heart rate, reduce your stress level and function more effectively as a human.

The most common technique is box breathing.

• Breath In for 4
• Hold for 4
• Breath out for 4
• Hold for 4.

Loop round this a few times and you'll notice your body start to respond.   When your heart rate gets back to normal you'll be able to think more clearly and perform more effectively.

Nobody really notices you doing this so you can use it on video calls, before important meetings or any time you're getting overwhelmed.

Two simple things to do but they really make a difference.  The more you practice with them the better you get with them.

As for my daughter. She didn't "puke".  They nailed the routine and won the championship.

Proud Dad moment.

Hope this helps

BenP

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