Pressure, the way you think of it, the way you understand it, isn’t real.

It is such an insult to say that an athlete faces pressure.

It is such an insult to say that a CEO faces pressure.

That is not real pressure.

That’s pressure created by the mind.

Because you care about the result.

Because you care about what people will think and say about you.

Because you care about the stock price.

Because you care how you perform.

People suffer from this false pressure on a daily basis.

People suffer so much from this false pressure that it causes them anxiety and depression.

But this is not REAL pressure.

False pressure is a first world luxury.

To be able to care so much about the performance of your company, or winning a game, or making some extra money, that you cause yourself to overthink, and overanalyze, and stress, and feel anxious, and depressed, is ludicrous.

It’s an insult to those who face REAL pressure every day.

REAL pressure is your child trapped under a car.

REAL pressure is your city coming under attack.

REAL pressure is facing a natural disaster.

REAL pressure is your house on fire.

REAL pressure is not knowing where your next meal is coming from.

REAL pressure is not knowing how to provide for your family.

REAL pressure is an intruder in your home.

REAL pressure is gun to your head, do or die situations.

And what do human beings do in REAL pressure situations?

They act.

They do whatever it takes.

But more importantly, is what they do not do:

THINK.

An athlete loses focus because he allows himself to do so.

A CEO stresses and overanalyses because he allows himself to do so.

Because he is faced with false pressure.

But if you were to tell a golfer that if he misses this putt, it would be his last,

I can tell you one thing for sure,

there is not a single thing he would focus on apart from that putt.

So you see, it’s not a question of focus, or mindfulness, or ‘getting into the zone’, or ‘dealing with pressure’,

it’s understanding when pressure is real,

and when it is not.

This is not to say that no athletic or business achievements matter,

for if they matter to you, they matter.

It is simply to understand that your sense of pressure is almost certainly false,

and it is created completely by your own mind,

and there is no REAL reason to put yourself through the mental torment.

For if the pressure were REAL,

you would not think,

and instinct would takeover.

Eliminate the mind,

and you eliminate false pressure.

(Amongst many other things, but that’s for another time).