Performing Under Pressure E-Book

Saul L. Miller

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 276

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

WHAT THE MAN WHO TEACHES THE WORLD’S TOP ATHLETES CAN TEACH YOU ABOUT OVERCOMING STRESS AND WINNING IN BUSINESS AND IN LIFE

Pressure. It keeps us focused, drives athletes to Olympic greatness, businesspeople to produce record value in their companies and artists to the stellar heights of their craft. But too much pressure is unhealthy and counterproductive. It leads to sleeplessness, heart attacks and many other negative side effects. It can also make us seize up and lose our ease when we need it the most.

World-renowned sports psychologist Saul -Miller, who teaches elite athletes and top sports teams how to be successful, shares a wealth of practical tools and exercises that allow anyone, in any situation, to manage the pressure they feel, and to channel it into peak performance.

Dr. Miller goes in-depth and teaches you:

• The difference between stress and pressure, and how to make them work for you
• How to use power thoughts and imagery to enhance your attitude and performance
• How to improve your baseline stress tolerance
• Techniques and exercises to control physical reactions to pressure
• How variations in personality and style affect the ways people experience and deal with pressure, and how this knowledge applies to you
• Training Notes that give you a clear 4-week plan for each of the major tools.

This book is an essential toolbox for anyone who wants to ensure that when it comes time to face intense, high-pressure situations, you’ll be prepared to succeed.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Praise

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE - PRESSURE

The Seminar

Feeling Less Pressured: Two Approaches

Who Are You? What Are You About?

1 SECTION - WINNING PROGRAMS

CHAPTER TWO - POWER THOUGHTS

Professional Thoughts

TRAINING NOTES

CHAPTER THREE - HIGH-PERFORMANCE IMAGERY

Goal Imagery

Mental Rehearsal

Stimulating or Identity Images

Three Guidelines for Using Your Identity or Stimulating Images

TRAINING NOTES

2 SECTION - THE SHIFT Positive Focus, Positive Feelings

CHAPTER FOUR - CHANGING CHANNELS

TRAINING NOTES

CHAPTER FIVE - TENSION RELEASE

Tension-Release

A Question I’m Frequently Asked

TRAINING NOTES

3 SECTION - CONSCIOUS BREATHING

CHAPTER 6 - RHYTHM

TRAINING NOTES

CHAPTER 7 - INSPIRATION

A World Series Wonder

TRAINING NOTES

CHAPTER EIGHT - CONTINUITY

Waves of Power: A Review

Breaking That Tensing Habitual Stress Factor

Breathing for Doing… and Being

TRAINING NOTES

CHAPTER NINE - STREAMING

Streaming

Streaming as a Way to Release Tension

Streaming as a Way to Enhance Performance

Streaming as a Way to Reduce Pain and Promote Healing

TRAINING NOTES

CHAPTER TEN - BLOWING OFF TENSION—ENERGIZING

Drawing the Power Back

Calming Down

TRAINING NOTES

4 SECTION - ATTITUDE, INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES, AND LIFESTYLE

CHAPTER ELEVEN - A WINNING, PERFORMING-UNDER-PRESSURE ATTITUDE

Motivation

Commitment

Confidence

A Sense of Deserving

Mental Toughness

Identity

TRAINING NOTES

CHAPTER TWELVE - INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Coaching

Vive La Différence

Take Stock

TRAINING NOTES

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - A HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIFESTYLE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

MORE PRAISE FOR PERFORMING UNDER PRESSURE

“A criminal trial lawyer has to perform under pressure everyday. A poor performance could mean a client being wrongfully convicted and sentenced to a very long time in custody. Dr. Miller’s book is loaded with useful, practical advice and interesting stories of his work with some of the world’s elite performers. I highly recommend this book to anyone who performs under pressure.”

- Brian Coleman, criminal lawyer

“In Performing Under Pressure Dr. Miller provides some very practical advice on how to excel in a highly charged professional environment. I highly recommend this book to colleagues and patients.”

- Dr. Bruce Ward DDS, President, British Columbia Dental Association

“Dr. Miller truly knows the intricacies and criteria required to enable peak performance. Performing Under Pressure is loaded with precise and practical advice on how to excel in the moment. I highly recommend it.”

- Rodger Schmidt, competitor and three-time Olympic and World Championship Coach for USA, Italy, Austria and Germany

Copyright © 2010 by Dr. Saul L. Miller

All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems of any part of this book shall be directed in writing to The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright license, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free 1-800-893-5777.

Care has been taken to trace ownership of copyright material contained in this book. The publisher will gladly receive any information that will enable them to rectify any reference or credit line in subsequent editions.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

Miller, Saul, 1942-

Performing under pressure : gaining the mental edge in business and sport / Saul L. Miller.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-470-73764-4

1. Success—Psychological aspects. 2. Industrial management—Psychological aspects. 3. Sports—Psychological aspects. 4. Time pressure. 5. Competition (Psychology). I. Title.

Production CreditsCover design: Mike Chan Interior text design: Adrian So Typesetter: Adrian So Printer: Friesens Printing Ltd.

John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. 6045 Freemont Blvd. Mississauga, Ontario L5R 4J3

FP

To Garfield and Laara and to all who strive and press to excel, win, and be loved.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to acknowledge Karen Milner, Jennifer Smith, and the very capable team at John Wiley & Sons for their enthusiasm and support for this book. And many thanks to Garfield L. Miller and Laara K. Maxwell, my home team, for raising the bar with insightful feedback and editorial expertise.

I also wish to thank all of those who through our consultation, counseling, and personal interaction, or through their writings and ideas, have contributed to making the book a success: AnneMarie, Alan, Art, Barry, Bobby, Brian, Bruce, Cam, Cathy, Carole, Charmaine, Chris, Chuck, Cindy, Clark, Cliff, Craig, Curt, Dan, Davey, David, Dawn, Deborah, Dick, Don, Donna, Doug, Fred, Gale, Gary, George, Glen, Greg, Harreson, Jack, Jenny, Jim, Joe, John, Julie, Kathleen, Kelly, Ken, Kevin, Larry, Leroy, Luke, Mark, Matt, Michael, Mitchell, Morris, Nancy, Paige, Paul, Pete, Peter, Randy, Ray, Rick, Ron, Roy, Ryan, Sam, Sean, Shaun, Sharon, Sid, Stanley, Tanya, Thelma, Tiger, Tom, Vince, Will, and Yvon. Thank you all.

INTRODUCTION

WE ARE ALL PERFORMERS

For over a quarter of a century, I have been fortunate to work with elite performers—people with the talent, motivation, and desire to be the best they can be. In principle, excelling is really quite simple. It is about having a clear idea of what you want to do, acting on that idea, staying focused, and persevering until you make it happen. However, sometimes, something comes between the desire and the doing. That something is often pressure.

It’s the sixth game of the World Series and the team at bat is trailing in the Series three games to two. It’s the tenth inning and they are losing the game 5 to 3. There are two out and two runners on base. One more out and they will lose the World Series. The batter stepping up to the plate is a seasoned veteran, yet like many competitors, in his desire to excel he sometimes tries too hard, tenses up, and interferes with his performance. As he stands at the plate facing the pitcher at that critical moment in the game and the Series, he desperately wants to get a hit, to express his ability. There are 60,000 frantic fans in the stadium, 60 million more watching on television. The atmosphere is electric. The pressure is enormous.

With just one second left in the game and his team losing 29 to 27, the kicker stands poised to kick a 33-yard field goal. The field goal will mean victory. Missing the kick will mean losing the game and probably his job. It is a seemingly routine kick, the kind he made at practice over 100 times during the week. However, the previous Sunday, he missed two short field goals and was blamed in the press for his team’s loss. Now he stands in front of 55,000 people, with millions more watching on national television. The game and his job hang in the balance. The pressure is enormous.

The scene is the cycling velodrome at the summer Olympics. It’s the one-kilometer race, the fastest cycling speed race of them all. Three laps around the track, full speed against the clock. One chance, no repeats. The fastest time wins. The rider is only nineteen years old, the youngest in the race. Still, he has been training for years for this moment. It’s what he dreams about. The whole race will take less than 65 seconds. The question is will he be able to bring it all together—his desire, talent, training, and technique? As his turn approaches, he can feel the tension building and his heart pounding. The pressure is enormous.

It’s 8:48 a.m. as the young executive steps into the corporate boardroom. After several years with a large multinational company, he is about to give a presentation on the status of an account he has been managing. It’s his first opportunity to impress the senior executives and CEO, and he is extremely motivated to make a favorable impression. He believes his future with the company is dependant on how he comes across in this meeting. He knows it’s vital the presentation gets off to a good start. As the moment approaches he can feel anxiety and tension building. The question racing through his mind is, “Can I pull it together and really show them who I am and what I can do?”

The batter, the kicker, the Olympian, and the executive are my clients, along with many other outstanding performers. The list includes major league All-Stars, NFL quarterbacks, NHL goalies, tour golfers, and Olympians in a dozen different sports, as well as stock brokers, surgeons, writers, actors, musicians, managers, dentists, lawyers, and people in marketing, sales, movie-making, rehabilitation, and law enforcement. They all want to succeed, to win, and to realize their goals and dreams. In so doing they repeatedly face the challenge of having to perform and excel in intense, high-pressure situations. At one time or another all of them have experienced how tension, pressure, anxiety, and stress can alter their perception, undermine their confidence, affect their judgment, and limit their performance.

My job is to facilitate success, to help my clients excel. To do that, I work with both mind and body. I coach my clients to exercise more psycho-physical control, and to release tension, fear, worry, and limiting thoughts. I coach them to “use” the situation, and to tune into and focus on thoughts, images, and feelings that give them power.

In the case of the batter, the kicker, the Olympian, and the executive, I spent hours working with them, helping them to excel in just the kind of intense situations described. Our goal was that, even under extreme pressure, they could regulate their emotion, shift focus, and experience more ease, power, and impact. And they did.

The World Series batter got the game-saving hit. The next night he did it again. His home run in the seventh and final game was the decisive blow and he was voted the Series’ most valuable player. The kicker made the field goal. His team won the game. In the two weeks that followed, he set a league record for the longest field goal. The Olympian rode a great race, a personal best. He recorded the fastest time of the day until the last rider surpassed it. He won an Olympic silver medal. The young executive gave a compelling and impressive presentation. He spoke with clarity and poise, and the feedback he received from the senior executives was strongly positive. Shortly thereafter, he was approached to lead a larger, more high-profile account.

The most responsive and successful of my clients share several things in common. They are motivated. They have a clear, positive idea of what they want to accomplish. They have developed the technical skills required by their sport, business, or art form. And they possess the emotional and mind-body control to integrate and implement all of the above.

Facilitating elite performers in sport and business has been a major focus of my work for over a quarter century. I see sport as a fascinating forum of human potential, a model of performance under pressure, and a metaphor for life. It’s an exaggeration, a drama, and a game. Yet, in many ways, it’s similar to what we all experience in our daily lives. Business is another performance area where the status quo is never good enough and there is continuous pressure to improve.

We are all performers. In the “games” we play in life, in our careers and relationships, in our challenges to excel, the pressure we experience can be very real and very intense. Like the professional athlete, our performance can be significantly limited by tension, anxiety, over-effort, negativity, and stress. A key to our productivity and pleasure is our ability to maintain a clear, winning focus and to bring more confidence, power, and ease to the moment. That’s what this book is about.

Chapter 1 looks at pressure and stress. What is pressure? What causes it and how do we experience it? Two basic therapeutic approaches to dealing with pressure are outlined. In Chapter 2, we begin our discussion of high-performance programming by describing personal and professional power thoughts. In Chapter 3, we explore three different kinds of imagery (goal images, mental rehearsal, and identity images) that can enhance performance. Chapter 4 discusses the relationship of thought and feeling, and offers a prescription for achieving more psycho-physical control. In Chapter 5, we discuss the release reflex and provide a tension-release process for the entire body. Chapters 6 through 8 describe the use of conscious breathing and three breathing elements (rhythm, inspiration, and continuity) that increase feelings of power, integration, and ease. Chapter 9 introduces streaming, a way to channel energy, to relax, to enhance performance, and to promote healing. Chapter 10 describes an unusual power-balancing technique for energizing and creating equilibrium by blowing off tension. Chapter 11 explores elements of a winning high-performance attitude, including confidence, mental toughness, and a positive self-image. Chapter 12 discusses individual differences—how variations in personality and focusing style affect the ways people experience and deal with pressure. Chapter 13 discusses five elements of personal lifestyle that support both consistent high-level performance and the ability to perform under pressure.

CHAPTER ONE

PRESSURE

The mind operates at both an instinctive and a highly conscious level. The instinctive brain is an action brain. It doesn’t think; it simply reacts. It serves as an energizer, transforming impulse into action, receiving incoming (sensory) messages, relaying them, and firing outgoing (motor) responses. With the conscious mind we set goals, analyze, interpret, image, affirm, reason, adjust, and respond.