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The Art of Manliness

#569: How to Perform Your Best Under Pressure

The Art of Manliness

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.714.5K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2019

⏱️ 46 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Don Greene was a springboard diver in high school and college, his performances were erratic -- sometimes they'd be amazing and sometimes embarrassing. null of his coaches could explain why that happened to him, so Don set out to find the answers himself. After serving as an Army Ranger and Green Beret, and getting his PhD in sports psychology, Don has spent decades coaching Olympic divers, professional athletes, race car drivers, opera singers, classical musicians, and Wall Street traders in how not to choke under pressure. He shares the principles he uses as a stress coach in Fight Your Fear and Win: Seven Skills for Performing Your Best Under Pressure. Today we talk about those skills, beginning with why people choke in the first place, and what's going on in your mind when that happens. We then talk about the fundamentals of managing performance anxiety and staying in right brain flow, including making adrenaline work for instead of against you, getting your mind centered, ignoring distractions, and becoming mentally tough. We also discuss how to thwart negative self-talk through a practice Don calls "thought monitoring," and his 5-step strategy for recovering when you do make a mistake. Get the show notes at aom.is/dontchoke.

Transcript

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0:00.0

[♪ INTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪

0:07.4

Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.

0:11.0

When Don Green was a springboard diver in high school in college, his performances were

0:14.6

erratic.

0:15.6

Sometimes they'd be amazing and sometimes embarrassing.

0:18.0

None of his coaches could explain why that happened to him, so Don set out to find the

0:21.2

answers himself.

0:22.4

After serving as an army ranger in Green Brea, beginning his PhD in sports psychology, Don has

0:26.6

been decades coaching Olympic divers, professional athletes, race car drivers, opera singers,

0:31.2

classical musicians, and Wall Street traders, and how not to choke under pressure.

0:34.9

He shares the principles he uses as a stretch coach and fight your fear and win, seven skills

0:39.0

performing your best under pressure.

0:40.5

Today, we talk about those skills, beginning with why people choke in the first place,

0:44.0

and what's going on in your mind when that happens.

0:46.2

We then talk about the fundamentals of managing performance anxiety and staying in right

0:49.7

brain flow, including making adrenaline work for and set up against you, can your

0:53.8

mind centered, ignoring distraction, and becoming mentally tough.

0:57.3

We also discuss how to thwart negative self-talk through a practice Don calls thought monitoring,

1:01.4

and his five step strategy for recovering when you do make a mistake.

1:04.6

Out of the shows over, check out our show notes at a-o-m dot i-s slash Don't Choke.

1:11.4

Alright, Don Green, welcome to the show.

1:21.0

Thank you very much.

...

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