9 lessons to improve how you manage nerves and anxiety

It's NB to know the difference between nerves and anxiety.

Why?

👉 Nerves = energy, excitement, readiness. (your body is gearing up to prioritize movement/focus over digestion) 

👉 Anxiety = when those nerves tip over into overwhelm/panic... because you are thinking about the future in a threatening enough way (trying to control the future instead of living in the present)

Managing expectations isn't about thinking "I'm not even going to admit that I want to win because it will only make it worse if I don't"

This is about debunking the idea that others don't look nervous/anxious so neither should I.

That expectation is often what causes athletes to have anxiety about... having anxiety.  

In heightened emotional states, like one feels before competing, often you've gone into a threat response. You've done nothing wrong, it's actually very normal.

But many athletes try to think their way out of this state... which doesn't work. Bot because they're not "mentally strong" enough... but because they don't know what's actually going on inside their brain/body/NS when they're in this state.

That's why breathing is so NB. It's the 

Many athletes want a silver bullet that can "cure" their  anxiety. So they learn the tools and think okay, "doing box-breathing once or twice at practice is going to cut it"... and when it doesn't they throw out the whole idea or say things like "breathing doesn't work for me".

Now I want to to give your anxiety a rating out of 10. 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest/most extreme.

Whatever rating you've giving yourself, I want you to take that number  and plus ONE and think "I'm going to practice my breathing exercises for 8 minutes every day I train/gym for my sport"

Link it to your training session so there's already a schedule.

This is a rough estimate - but think of it like this... the anxiety/tight chest/feeling depleted exhausted even before you race needs to be combatted with just a little more (hence the plus 1 min) so that I can prove to myself/my body/my brain through conscious breathing... that my sport is not DANGEROUS... and that I don't need to feel as anxious as I have been feeling.

So anxiety is trying the control the future, instead of focusing on the present.

Difficult to tell someone, don't think about your game/race.

But here's the thing - practice thinking about LESS and as many things that are UNDER your control as possible.

Your brain is frantically searching for answers.

A big misconception athletes have about mentally tough people/athletes is that they control their thoughts with an iron fist.

And somehow, with this "control" they are immune to doubts or what ifs, wobbles, fears or _______________ .

And you're either going to love me or hate me for what I'm going to say next.

It's not about controlling your thoughts directly.
It's about accepting them, but not obsession over them or trying to figure them out AND focus in your next ​move/play.
(NEXT NOTING EXERCISE IS NB)

Many athletes want a silver bullet that can "cure" their  anxiety. So they learn the tools and think okay, "doing box-breathing once or twice at practice is going to cut it"... and when it doesn't they throw out the whole idea or say things like "breathing doesn't work for me".

Now I want to to give your anxiety a rating out of 10. 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest/most extreme.

Whatever rating you've giving yourself, I want you to take that number  and plus ONE and think "I'm going to practice my breathing exercises for 8 minutes every day I train/gym for my sport"

Link it to your training session so there's already a schedule.

This is a rough estimate - but think of it like this... the anxiety/tight chest/feeling depleted exhausted even before you race needs to be combatted with just a little more (hence the plus 1 min) so that I can prove to myself/my body/my brain through conscious breathing... that my sport is not DANGEROUS... and that I don't need to feel as anxious as I have been feeling.