Performance Anxiety
Mild anxiety or nervousness is normal before a significant event. But when the jitters or butterflies turn into intense or overwhelming fear, these emotions become counterproductive.
You can learn how to effectively reduce and manage anxiety before and during an event.
Understanding the relationship between anxiety and performance is the first step to overcoming performance anxiety.
Mild anxiety or nervousness is normal before a significant event. But when the jitters or butterflies turn into intense or overwhelming fear, these emotions become counterproductive.
You can learn how to effectively reduce and manage anxiety before and during an event.
Understanding the relationship between anxiety and performance is the first step to overcoming performance anxiety.
4 Factors that Contribute to Performance Anxiety
1. Overthinking. Our minds tend to create negative scenarios of the future, negative outcomes, and think about what could go wrong. If you are already in a state of mild anxiety these worries can exacerbate anxiety.
Our thoughts have a powerful effect on our emotions for better or worse. Learning how to create more positive images, outcomes, and scenarios can significantly decrease anxiety.
2. Negative self-talk. Self-doubt, worries, and negative beliefs and attitudes, all contribute to feelings of nervousness or lack of control in a situation.
Learning how to change your self-talk to positive thoughts can shift your emotional state to feelings of freedom and ease, enhancing confidence and performance.
3. Excessive focus on yourself. One of the classic pitfalls of performance anxiety is excessive focus on yourself. People tend to become overly self conscious of each word, movement, or physical sensation like their heart beating, a rise in body temperature, etc.
Learning how to shift your attention to external factors such as the music as you are dancing to, the message in your presentation, or the thrill of the game, can revive feelings of comfort and elicit zone states.
4. Preoccupation with the outcome. Becoming overly focused on the outcome, goal, or end result can prevent you from fully accessing your innate abilities, muscle memory, and ability to recall information.
Learning how to be in the moment, and be action oriented rather than result oriented can help you achiever higher levels of performance.
How to Overcome Performance Anxiety
1. Calm the body by learning specific relaxation response techniques. When you are in a state of hyperarousal or emotionally flooded, your brain becomes short circuited and you are unable to access the higher functions of the brain. The mind continues to race and stay in fight or flight mode.
Once the body is more relaxed you can then access the executive functions of the brain which enable you to be more rational, gain a healthier perspective, and implement effective self-talk strategies.
2. Change self-talk from negative thoughts to reassuring thoughts, and realistic, constructive statements.
3. Refocus the mind from yourself to something external, neutral, or energizing.
4. Mental rehearsal enables you to strengthen feelings of ease, comfort and confidence by using your creative mind and guided imagery to create scenarios performing at an optimal level.
1. Overthinking. Our minds tend to create negative scenarios of the future, negative outcomes, and think about what could go wrong. If you are already in a state of mild anxiety these worries can exacerbate anxiety.
Our thoughts have a powerful effect on our emotions for better or worse. Learning how to create more positive images, outcomes, and scenarios can significantly decrease anxiety.
2. Negative self-talk. Self-doubt, worries, and negative beliefs and attitudes, all contribute to feelings of nervousness or lack of control in a situation.
Learning how to change your self-talk to positive thoughts can shift your emotional state to feelings of freedom and ease, enhancing confidence and performance.
3. Excessive focus on yourself. One of the classic pitfalls of performance anxiety is excessive focus on yourself. People tend to become overly self conscious of each word, movement, or physical sensation like their heart beating, a rise in body temperature, etc.
Learning how to shift your attention to external factors such as the music as you are dancing to, the message in your presentation, or the thrill of the game, can revive feelings of comfort and elicit zone states.
4. Preoccupation with the outcome. Becoming overly focused on the outcome, goal, or end result can prevent you from fully accessing your innate abilities, muscle memory, and ability to recall information.
Learning how to be in the moment, and be action oriented rather than result oriented can help you achiever higher levels of performance.
How to Overcome Performance Anxiety
1. Calm the body by learning specific relaxation response techniques. When you are in a state of hyperarousal or emotionally flooded, your brain becomes short circuited and you are unable to access the higher functions of the brain. The mind continues to race and stay in fight or flight mode.
Once the body is more relaxed you can then access the executive functions of the brain which enable you to be more rational, gain a healthier perspective, and implement effective self-talk strategies.
2. Change self-talk from negative thoughts to reassuring thoughts, and realistic, constructive statements.
3. Refocus the mind from yourself to something external, neutral, or energizing.
4. Mental rehearsal enables you to strengthen feelings of ease, comfort and confidence by using your creative mind and guided imagery to create scenarios performing at an optimal level.
Types of Anxiety Treated: