Sunday, March 7, 2010

Pressure (a high school student's view)...

This was sent to me by a high school student of mine, who wishes to remain anonymous. She's light years ahead of where I was at this age... probably most of us, yeah? There's no doubt in my mind she'll be an amazing success on whatever path she chooses to create for herself! 






"Practice makes perfect." 


I grew up with this phrase drilled into my head that anything I do, no matter what it is, I can succeed as long as I put the effort in. However, recently (within the past few years) the first 'P' of this innuendo transformed into: "Pressure makes Perfect". 

As strange as this may appear, perfect and pressure can coexist in the same phrase and actually compliment each other is a difficult concept. Shouldn't pressure be something that breaks confidence, increases nerves, and squashes the ability to preform at top notch? 


To be honest, I hadn't thought of pressure as this horrible cloud of nerves until someone told me to. Pressure is all around you just in different doses. It could be as simple as the pressure of putting your money back into your wallet when you're done paying for something, or making an appointment on time; to having "more" pressure of presenting a job pitch, or a final serve in a volleyball match. Each form of pressure remains THE SAME. The only difference is how aware of it we are. 


Imagine for a minute that everything anyone had no pressure, everything anyone did came easily and stress- free. Sound nice? WRONG! Everything would stop at a standstill. There would be no competition, and businesses would collapse because there would be no driving force or ambition to succeed to higher levels than those around you. 


To "have a handle" on pressure is completely different than "handling" the pressure. By having a handle on it, you are controlling it - you have the power to manipulate it to become that driving force that can push you higher than those who are handling it. 


By creating a negative relation to the P-word, you are setting yourself up to merely handling it, rather than controlling the correct dosage of dedication, drive and opportunity to become the one everyone asks "How?" How did they become so successful, rich, positive, etc. 


Figuring out how to focus on the task at hand rather than the situation surrounding it, which is what creates the awareness of pressure, is the key to mastering and controlling "pressure-filled" situations. 


So the equations should really be: 


Pressure + Practice = Perfect!

9 comments:

Dayne Gingrich said...

I wanted to be the first to comment, and tell her how proud I am of her... knowing this would probably end up on my blog should be/ would be scary for most everyone.

Secondly, the fact that you can see Pressure as a powerful weapon is absolutely amazing to me. This wouldn't have even been a possibility for me at this age!! This "transformation" in her life is what will allow her to accomplish anything... ANYTHING!!

I look forward to watching the process...

Retta said...

This had some excellent points. I am impressed that one so young is this aware!

I was wondering if you could expand a bit on this paragraph, with your own thoughts:

"Figuring out how to focus on the task at hand rather than the situation surrounding it, which is what creates the awareness of pressure, is the key to mastering and controlling "pressure-filled" situations."

Maybe an example to help make it clear. I am fuzzy about "the situation surrounding it, which creates the awareness of pressure".

Thanks,
Loretta
=^..^=

spldbch said...

Very well written! She seems to have a positive attitude, which is extremely important when it comes to success.

Dayne Gingrich said...

I think she's talking about staying focused on this moment, rather than the results of the moment, and the pressures surrounding the moment.

Let's use Josh (from my last post), who's trying to become the oldest NFL rookie in history: The pressure his shoulders is immense, and would be very easy to get lost in outside distractions. As my high school student said, "focusing on the task at hand" is the key for Josh, rather than the "situation (pressures) surrounding it."

Hope that helps. Please let me know if it's still confusing.

Dayne

Lorenza said...

Interesting insight although I disagree that without pressure everything would stop. Because I think that we can "rule" the world with COMMITMENT avoiding all the pressure. Pressure is a concept coming from an EGO orientated society. COMMITMENT comes from Life Force.

Happy to follow you
(I am Italian living in South Africa, ex tennis player, 4 kids, want to a witer, spiritual seeker)

love & Rainbow

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Creative Blogger Award

Matty said...

I commend her for her mature view and understanding of pressure. I like the idea of focusing on the task at hand and not the surrounding situation. To be in control of the pressure.

Dayne Gingrich said...

Can we "be in control of pressure?"

Or... can we control how we REACT to pressure; how we choose to define the word; whether or not we put our arms around it?

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