Pressure is powerful.
Its influence is undeniable.
Regardless of the source, internal or external, most of us typically react in one of two ways. Depending on the context and the situation, pressure either motivates us to rise to the occasion, or causes us to fall short of our best. We are all swayed by pressure in one way or another.
For me, pressure when I’m playing power soccer can be great. I can focus more deeply and concentrate on the task at hand, which always involves beating the other team.
In my voice over life, pressure sometimes has a negative effect. Here’s an example: I release a new blog every week. The last couple recordings are far from my best. A major reason is that I put pressure on myself to get these videos out every Monday.
The last couple weeks, I haven’t been very diligent in preparing ahead of time. This often means that I’m writing the post Sunday and depending on what time I finish, I record either on Sunday night or Monday morning. Then, I still have to put the video together. I want to get this out at a reasonable time on Monday, so that means I rush to finish the recording.
Go back and listen to the last couple videos I recorded. Actually, don’t…they’re not very good.
I wasn’t relaxed because I felt the pressure to get it done. You can definitely hear it in my performances.
For this one, I made sure to give myself at least a day ahead of time to record and put the video together.
Hopefully, you can hear a difference between this and the last couple recordings.
So, although pressure is a powerful force, it certainly doesn’t have to control you. Understand what it is that you need to bring your best into any given situation. Once you understand, give yourself time to prepare.
Then, get out there and make it happen. You’ve got this…
