Soon after, people were smart enough to recognise this phenomenon, and they quickly gave it a name. Performance anxiety.
Now, the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning this phrase is someone standing on stage and sweating profusely, struggling to put an act together, and leaving with their tail between their legs.
As you might have guessed, performance anxiety extends beyond that. It manifests when you’re asking for a raise, when you want to ask someone out on a date, and even when you’re trying to get out of bed in the morning.
For one reason or another, people get stuck in that rut and find themselves falling into despair whenever they have something life-changing to do.
No one wants to go through something like that, and that’s the motivation behind today’s article.
We’re going to share with you our top techniques to overcome performance anxiety, in whatever shape or form, in any area of life.
5 Techniques to Overcome Performance Anxiety:
1. Get into The Habit of Relaxing:
Your breathing, preparation beforehand, and general mindset going into something all play a role in how relaxed you are.
When you practise proper breathing, it becomes infinitely easier to calm down during stressful moments. Furthermore, being well prepared solves most of the confidence issues that lead to performance anxiety.
The same is true of your mindset. If you cultivate a positive mindset, it’s hard to fail. Since we’re talking about relaxation here, take care of your breathing.
Experienced clinical psychologists recommend a technique called “circular breathing.” This technique focuses on the following:
- Keep your eyes closed and your lips pursed.
- Exhale for as long as you possibly can.
- Empty your lungs.
- Pause for 10 seconds and start inhaling again.
- Once your lungs are full, pause once more and repeat all the previous steps.
It’s often also recommended to practise progressive muscle relaxation techniques in conjunction with your breathing. This is a bit more of an advanced topic that you should look into once you’ve mastered breathing techniques.
Muscle relaxation provides immediate mental relief because the core techniques focus on being in the present moment while building control over your physical body in reaction to stress and anxiety.
2. Imagery Is Your Friend:
A common mistake made during high-stress situations is thinking that you have to be 100% focused on what’s in front of you.
While that’s true, you can make the process work for you and get less stressed by using imagery.
How so? You can start by imagining all the positive outcomes awaiting you once you’re done with something. Likewise, if it’s a negative outcome, it helps to imagine what can be done to mitigate losses or make the outcome favourable in some way.
Whatever the case might be, creative imagery is a powerful tool. It keeps you calm and grounded.
For example, you can rely on imagery when giving a speech in front of others. Begin by thinking about the value you’re providing through your words.
Then, you can take it a step further by thinking about something related to giving a speech that makes you happy. For some people, that’s usually the applause and handclapping that follow when they’re done.
You can figure out what makes you happy during stressful situations by pointing your mind in the direction of a pleasant visual image. It can be anything, really.
3. Use Positive Self-Talk:
It’s easier said than done, but you can do it. Always remember that you are your own best cheerleader, and no one can help you more than you can help yourself.
Positive self-talk kills performance anxiety once you get into the habit of doing it. The key is to start early when you’re feeling anxious. If you try to do it in the midst of the action, it won’t work.
Good examples of positive self-talk are:
- Telling yourself you can do it.
- Thinking about how much stronger you’ll become after this all ends.
- Reminding yourself why you’re here and why what you’re doing matters.
- Keeping the negative self-talk at bay.
- Remembering that it’s not the end of the world if you fail or make a small mistake.
- If you can read a script, scribble down those positive thoughts on a piece of paper and read them.
- Thinking of all the rewards, positive outcomes, and good feelings you’ll have after you’re done.
Whatever it is that motivates you, use it to stay positive at all costs. This idea gets repeated a lot when discussing performance anxiety because it really is that simple and effective.
It just takes a while to get into the habit of doing it.
4. Change Your Lifestyle:
Guess what? Your lifestyle plays a big role in impacting your performance in every area of life.
The technique in this one is knowing what to eat and exercising often.
You might not like to hear it, but if you’ve been slacking off on your exercise and eating unhealthy food all the time, don’t be surprised when your mind falls apart during stressful situations (i.e., when performance anxiety kicks in).
Actually, food has a lot to do with it. Many health psychologists have been able to deduce that food quality is really important.
For example, it’s recommended to limit caffeine and sugar as much as possible to avoid the sudden rise in dopamine, which can make you susceptible to making mistakes often.
You generally need to stick with foods that keep your blood sugars in check. Why is sugar so damn important? Again, changes in blood sugar lead to symptoms very similar to what happens when you become anxious.
Other good suggestions include exercising often. Your physical health has a direct impact on your confidence levels and, hence, how much performance anxiety affects you.
5. Face Anxiety Head-On:
This last technique might sound counterintuitive, but it’s really helpful. Try to mimic the situations that cause you the most anxiety.
This can be anything from doing mock tests, practising in front of your family or friends in preparation for a big speech, or doing more fitness drills before your big match in an empty playground.
If all of that sounds too intimidating still, think of ways you can make it easier for you to handle (i.e., practise reading your speech with a recorder nearby).
The idea here is to take things very gradually. Once you’re comfortable doing things with a few people watching you, it’s time to up the ante and invite more of them to see you.
The more you face your fears, the less they’ll control you. It’s a very important lesson in life and in destroying performance anxiety.
In Conclusion:
And there you have it! A quick guide on the best techniques you can employ to beat performance anxiety.
It’s a long and hard journey ahead, but if you’re serious about mastering yourself and taking control of your thoughts and emotions to achieve what you want, you’ll find a way to do it!
Hopefully, you start by applying what we discussed here. It’s really simple. You can do one or all of the above whenever you feel like it, but it’s better to try one thing at a time.
We believe in you, even if you might not at this point in time.
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