Imagine you are in this situation. You are a professional hockey player. You are playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It is the decisive game; you’re in overtime. There are 10 seconds left and suddenly one of your teammates hands you the puck.
What would you do? Would you panic? would you drown Would you rise to the occasion and save the day?
How would you feel? Highly strung? Alarmed? Excited? Confident?
Extra time in the deciding match, 10 seconds on the clock… and it’s all up to you.
That is a high pressure situation.
Want to know what all-time hockey great Wayne Gretzky had to say when asked how he felt in that situation?
Wayne said, “I live all season for that moment.”
How is that possible? How is it possible to be in one of the most high-pressure situations most of us could imagine, with the season on the line, your team putting its future in your hands, and millions of fans watching your every move, and feel good about it? that?
It’s possible because, at the time, two things are indisputably true about Wayne Gretzky:
He is very, very good.
You know it’s very, very good.
And that’s why Wayne Gretzky could feel good about being in the middle of a high-pressure situation. Because he knows that’s when he can shine brightest.
So let’s take a closer look at those two Gretzky attributes and see how they can apply to you.
He is very, very good.
In other words, you have competition. He is up to the task at hand. So where does the competition come from? Natural ability? Sure, that may be part of it, but research shows that it’s only a small part and that we tend to overvalue it. Most proficiency comes from things like study, practice, and experience. Studying means that you are continually learning: from colleagues, from coaches, from mentors, from books, from videos, from your successes and mistakes. Practicing means simulating high-pressure situations before they arise, honing your skills, playing “what if” scenarios. And experience means putting yourself in these situations over and over again, to the point where “high pressure” becomes part of your comfort zone.
So if you’re not very, very good at what you do, be very, very good at it. Study, practice and get that all-important experience.
You know it’s very, very good.
In addition to competence, Gretzky is also confident. The reason he can feel good in a high-pressure situation that could cripple the rest of us is because he’s been there before and he knows he’s got what it takes: he knows he’s up for the challenge. So when adrenaline hits, it manifests in electrifying excitement rather than paralyzing fear.
And where does this trust come from? It comes from the competition. It comes from experience. It comes from having been there before, successfully.
“But Bill,” you say, “I know people who are supremely confident in their abilities and at the same time extremely incompetent in those same abilities.”
Yeah, but for the most part they’re dilettantes or idiots, right? And the difference between them and Wayne Gretzky is that, when the critical moment comes, Gretzky could deliver the goods. And have fun while you do it!
So yes, it is possible to feel good in a high pressure situation. When you’re very, very good, and you know you’re very, very good, you, like Wayne Gretzky, will begin to see those high-pressure situations as opportunities to really shine.
