I remember this phrase well, since it was the great Dave Alred (England and British Lions Coach) who said it to me during a coaching session. He was referring to bring able to perform fine closed motor skills, in this case a place kick at goal, when in the most high stress and pressure situations. At the time, I claimed to know exactly what he was talking about; that I needed reminding of the importance of mental clarity and coolness under pressure. Turns out, I really didn't get it until recently. You see, I assumed that because of what I was told, that there was a degree of separation between subject and object. As a result, I sometimes struggled to be mentally cool in situations that were considered high pressure, and I could never quite put my finger on why?! This would also cause me undue tension and stress because I was so desperate to find the answer. This is something that I'm sure there are many of you out there would appreciate; being able to perform consistently under pressure and, at the same time, not have the experience or lasting effects of stress that regularly go hand in hand with high pressure performance.
I myself was always searching for this state in performance, within my sport as a young athlete and also as a pianist in public recitals. What I have discovered is that there are 2 sides to the coin with this, and the key message with both is understanding what's behind the scenes.
Heads - What Creates Pressure?
Pressure, by definition is "A compelling or constraining influence, such as a moral force, on the mind or will or an urgent claim or demand". This covers a lot of ground, since this pressure can relate to just about anything you'll be part of and experience.
Our intellectual references tell us that everything is exerted from "outside" upon us. In fact, if you can cast your mind back to science lessons in your teens, chances are that you'll remember some work on forces, gravity or friction. This tends to substantiate our understanding that it is an "outside-in" existence.
The trouble is, despite how it appears, "the outside" is not actually where pressure is created. Life isn't a material existence. What you see is not a reality created on the outside, but an experience of reality created on the inside.
There are 3 principles of psychology, discovered by the late Sydney Banks in 1973, which point to how the human experience is really created. To better understand any psychological variable, these are the building blocks that will show how they are created. The three principles are:
Sure, the things on the outside still exist! For example, your experience of a bus coming towards you on the road would be a function of the principles within the mind, but it wouldn't mean that being hit by it wouldn't cause you considerable harm! The principles is just pointing to what's behind life and creating life as we know it, which is all created from within.
Tails - All Well And Good - What Now?
OK here's where it can get tricky. You see, if you find yourself in a pressure situation and experiencing stress from it, chances are you've been told a whole heap of things that you need to do about that. In fact, some of you may even have done some training in psychological techniques to try and better regulate what you're experiencing and be more effective.
It's no surprise that I'm going to say that this is actually the wrong direction to look in. You see, when you're stressed out or under pressure, the feelings you're getting are an indicator of you're thinking in the moment. If you're thinking "yes, I get that", firstly get what I am really pointing to. It's not the content of your thinking you should look to, rather the quality of thinking behind the scenes of what you see. Then what you might want to do is test what happens when you stop concentrating on thinking about doing something about it?
In my experience and the experience of my clients, as soon as we are no longer holding those ideas in place, they get replaced by different ones. More often than not, those feelings associated with the ideas (tension, anxiety, worry, panic, guilt) are usually replaced by nicer feelings too. This tells you something about the nature of the principles in the situation. Thought is creating our experience of reality, and just as quickly as it creates feelings of tension, it will create a whole host of other feelings.
We feel like we do because we are feeling our thinking
The less involved you are in the process of thought, the quicker it will change. It's totally the opposite to the way the world understands it. When we just allow thought to be, and be nothing but an idea, then it will pass and another thought will take it's place. The feelings you get are an indicator of how close to "reality" your perception r is in the moment. If you feel bad, then its a sign that you're not seeing things right and you should just ease up on your thinking for a moment.
It's like putting your hand on a burning stove. The feeling you get tells you to take your hand off it because it is doing you harm. It wouldn't make any sense to put it back on the stove while you "figure out where the feeling is coming from". It's so automatic, it is innate. It happens without your involvement.
Its the same with pressure and stress. Despite what you've been told to believe, the feeling is the same as the feeling you get from the hand on the stove. The only problem is our understanding of what's really happening. We get in our own way essentially, by trying to intellectually figure out something that isn't intellectual. It too is innate. If you stop getting involved with the thinking you're doing and just proceed, and all will become clear. This is the fundamental truth to real performance under pressure without stress, anxiety or worry.
Think to when you're at your best, and I can bet that you're not really thinking a great deal. Things seem to happen and manifest automatically, leaving you to see a bigger picture and be able to navigate situations more easily. You're engagement levels with tasks, people around you and the experience itself is far greater and more impactful.
And yet, you're not doing anything.about it. That's the best part. Your innate wisdom and intelligence is guiding you through, showing you the way forward. The potential and power of the principles is being realised to a greater degree.
Sometimes this manifests in people so automatically that they don't even have to understand the principles, because it is an innate quality we all have and we can all realise for ourselves. Understanding gives you perspective to realise the potential for a greater state of experience no matter what is happening on the outside, and points you firmly in the right direction when you're lost in your own thinking.
To your well being
Asa
I myself was always searching for this state in performance, within my sport as a young athlete and also as a pianist in public recitals. What I have discovered is that there are 2 sides to the coin with this, and the key message with both is understanding what's behind the scenes.
Heads - What Creates Pressure?
Pressure, by definition is "A compelling or constraining influence, such as a moral force, on the mind or will or an urgent claim or demand". This covers a lot of ground, since this pressure can relate to just about anything you'll be part of and experience.
Our intellectual references tell us that everything is exerted from "outside" upon us. In fact, if you can cast your mind back to science lessons in your teens, chances are that you'll remember some work on forces, gravity or friction. This tends to substantiate our understanding that it is an "outside-in" existence.
The trouble is, despite how it appears, "the outside" is not actually where pressure is created. Life isn't a material existence. What you see is not a reality created on the outside, but an experience of reality created on the inside.
There are 3 principles of psychology, discovered by the late Sydney Banks in 1973, which point to how the human experience is really created. To better understand any psychological variable, these are the building blocks that will show how they are created. The three principles are:
- Mind - although there is not definition of this, it points to the energy and intelligence that exists in all life. It is the life force of everything, a formless essence that all living things have access to and have running through them, which has an unlimited potential.
- Consciousness - our ability to be aware of our experience of reality. Consciousness makes our creations appear and feel completely real. It is like the screen on which our experience of life is projected.
- Thought - thought is our creative agent. It is creating our experience of reality moment to moment, and is completely unattached to anything. Being a creative agent, its only function is to create the pictures that we then experience as a reality in consciousness. Thought has no meaning, it just exists.
Sure, the things on the outside still exist! For example, your experience of a bus coming towards you on the road would be a function of the principles within the mind, but it wouldn't mean that being hit by it wouldn't cause you considerable harm! The principles is just pointing to what's behind life and creating life as we know it, which is all created from within.
Tails - All Well And Good - What Now?
OK here's where it can get tricky. You see, if you find yourself in a pressure situation and experiencing stress from it, chances are you've been told a whole heap of things that you need to do about that. In fact, some of you may even have done some training in psychological techniques to try and better regulate what you're experiencing and be more effective.
It's no surprise that I'm going to say that this is actually the wrong direction to look in. You see, when you're stressed out or under pressure, the feelings you're getting are an indicator of you're thinking in the moment. If you're thinking "yes, I get that", firstly get what I am really pointing to. It's not the content of your thinking you should look to, rather the quality of thinking behind the scenes of what you see. Then what you might want to do is test what happens when you stop concentrating on thinking about doing something about it?
In my experience and the experience of my clients, as soon as we are no longer holding those ideas in place, they get replaced by different ones. More often than not, those feelings associated with the ideas (tension, anxiety, worry, panic, guilt) are usually replaced by nicer feelings too. This tells you something about the nature of the principles in the situation. Thought is creating our experience of reality, and just as quickly as it creates feelings of tension, it will create a whole host of other feelings.
We feel like we do because we are feeling our thinking
The less involved you are in the process of thought, the quicker it will change. It's totally the opposite to the way the world understands it. When we just allow thought to be, and be nothing but an idea, then it will pass and another thought will take it's place. The feelings you get are an indicator of how close to "reality" your perception r is in the moment. If you feel bad, then its a sign that you're not seeing things right and you should just ease up on your thinking for a moment.
It's like putting your hand on a burning stove. The feeling you get tells you to take your hand off it because it is doing you harm. It wouldn't make any sense to put it back on the stove while you "figure out where the feeling is coming from". It's so automatic, it is innate. It happens without your involvement.
Its the same with pressure and stress. Despite what you've been told to believe, the feeling is the same as the feeling you get from the hand on the stove. The only problem is our understanding of what's really happening. We get in our own way essentially, by trying to intellectually figure out something that isn't intellectual. It too is innate. If you stop getting involved with the thinking you're doing and just proceed, and all will become clear. This is the fundamental truth to real performance under pressure without stress, anxiety or worry.
Think to when you're at your best, and I can bet that you're not really thinking a great deal. Things seem to happen and manifest automatically, leaving you to see a bigger picture and be able to navigate situations more easily. You're engagement levels with tasks, people around you and the experience itself is far greater and more impactful.
And yet, you're not doing anything.about it. That's the best part. Your innate wisdom and intelligence is guiding you through, showing you the way forward. The potential and power of the principles is being realised to a greater degree.
Sometimes this manifests in people so automatically that they don't even have to understand the principles, because it is an innate quality we all have and we can all realise for ourselves. Understanding gives you perspective to realise the potential for a greater state of experience no matter what is happening on the outside, and points you firmly in the right direction when you're lost in your own thinking.
To your well being
Asa
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