How To Stay Calm Under Pressure

High pressure situations have the ability to push emotions to a breaking point. Dealing with these situations can be challenging and require a lot of mental resilience, strength and stamina.

While in the moment, a high pressure situation can seem overwhelming or impossible to solve. And to be honest with you, not all high pressure situations have a viable solution. Saying they do would just be foolishly positive.

But, and it’s important to remember there is a but here, dealing with these as intelligently as possible can maximize the chances of success. One of the best ways to deal with high pressure challenges is to remain calm as you face them.

Ways to stay calm under pressure

Here are some ways to stay calm under pressure or stress.

1. Acknowledge worst case scenarios

How does that make sense? Imagining worst case scenarios in a situation where most people want to realize best case scenarios may seem odd. But the most likely reason a situation is causing so much stress is because of the high probability and/or high stakes of failure.

You probably feel like you have a high chance of failing and if you do there is likely to be some serious repercussions. This idea can be emotionally shaking.

It’s nice to consider the possibility and probability of success. At the same time, it is also important to acknowledge any fears you may have which are attached to a situation.

Don’t create new fears for yourself, but do acknowledge whatever it is you are afraid of. Take some time to consider what outcome you are most afraid of and play it over in your head. Desensitize yourself to it and allow yourself to accept it and move on.

This doesn’t mean it will happen nor does it mean it’s likely to happen. In fact, a lot of people are prone to doom and gloom thinking while overlooking their chances of success.

This technique isn’t meant to guarantee your failure, it’s just meant to help you be okay with it.

Give it a few minutes, think about what you’re most afraid of and accept it then move on to trying your best.

2. Remind yourself of the importance of a clear mind

It’s a little bit of an interesting situation. Emotions are good for people because they help by serving as an alarm or message of sorts. Fear, anger, panic, etc. – these typically present themselves for a reason. The problem arises when we let them go too far or get out of control.

Embracing emotions and listening to them is crucial. At the same time, it’s important to remember that a clear mind is also important for solving problems and facing challenges.

Clarity of mind doesn’t have to mean a complete absence of emotion. Instead, what you should try doing is reminding yourself that a clear mind can ultimately help you face a challenge while at peak mental performance. Feeling stressed and panicked can cloud thinking and make it harder to function.

By reminding yourself how important it is to have a clear mind, you could help yourself calm down. If you want to succeed, you need to maximize your chances for success. In most of life’s situations, this includes having a clear mind that is functioning as best as it can.

3. Keep your thinking solutions focused

Thoughts can start to run wild during high pressure situations. A pessimistic imagination can create new fears, reinforce existing ones and make stress even worse.

Instead, most of your thinking during high pressure situations should be solutions focused. Use any mental energy the stress of a situation might have given you to help yourself calmly handle the situation. Remember, solutions should be reasonable. I.e. try to solve the problem in a calm way that assures you end up the ultimate winner (don’t do anything that’ll get you in worse trouble).

4. Relax your muscles

When muscles are tense, they can end up making you feel more stressed. Inversely, when you are stressed you could end up inadvertently tensing your muscles.

Relaxing your muscles from head to toe could help you calm down a little. A tense forehead could leave you feeling angry, for example. A tense chest could make your breathing more difficult.

Go from the toes all the way up to the head and consciously relax your muscles. Don’t overthink it, just relax.

5. Separate yourself from emotions

Sometimes emotions are just there in high pressure situations. Calming strategies are great but it’s important to also be able to embrace emotions and move on with them present.

Treat your emotions as a guest in your mind that you kind of have to get along with. In reality, emotions are actually a plus, but being able to think and plan is too. Leave your emotions – let them be and do your best.

Try to acknowledge and accept your emotions then move on and strive to accomplish your goals.

6. Visualize (imagine yourself succeeding, envision yourself in a happy place)

You should avoid being overly and unrealistically positive. But at the same time, a fair amount of positivity and optimism can be beneficial (especially in a stressful situation.

Go ahead and envision yourself succeeding. Visualize what you want the outcome to look like and consider how you will achieve it.

Envision yourself in a happy place so that you can calm down. Maybe a nice beach or a calm living room. Use your imagination to take your mind somewhere calming and peaceful.

7. Focus on something neutral

Try to shift your focus to something that makes you feel no emotion. This is an effective temporary distraction technique.

Think about your feet on the ground, the way your clothes feel on your skin, the color of the wall, etc. You can even try gently wrapping one hand around the other for a few seconds and focus on that.