Conquering Pressure: My Story

When I was growing up in Edina, MN,  I was an excellent baseball player.  From age ten on, I was probably one of the top 5 players in our community. I could hit, field and steal bases at a very high level.  That is until, there was pressure on me.  When the game was on the line, I was not the guy you wanted up to bat.  I put so much pressure on myself that I usually performed poorly, some would say even choked.  When I was at bat in a pressure situation, I was just hoping I could draw a Walk, so the pressure would be lifted off of me.  When I performed poorly,  I would go home and beat myself up and blame myself for all of the team's shortcomings.  This negative cycle continued to deepen through age 16, when I ended up striking out twice in a state tournament game, both times with the bases loaded to end the season.  I was completely distraught and started to think I was destined to be a good player who consistently choked under pressure.

Then an interesting thing happened when I was I seventeen.  I learned techniques  to embrace pressure, neutralize it and actually enjoy it.  I went from being a choke artist to being nicknamed "Mr. Clutch" by my teammates.  I was fortunate enough to get the game winning hit in both a state championship and national championship game.  Just a year earlier, I could not have imagined performing that well in big moments. (Coach Pat with his hand on the National Championship trophy and fist extended).

I am here to tell you that you can get better at performing under pressure!  Whether it is a ballgame, a test or an interview, the goal is simple: perform the best you can today.  That does not mean that everything is perfect or we always win, but it does mean that we feel good about our performance because we have given full effort and we have not been controlled by fear.  

I have created a simple 4 step process to Conquering Pressure where we Identify  pressure, Plan for pressure, Execute on Pressure and then Reboot when things go wrong. 

If you are tired of underperforming or feeling like the world has not seen your best, I think. I could be helpful to get you out of your head and up to the nect level.  The first step is for us to chat in a free consult where I hear your story and then explain my approach to see if there is a good match.  You will learn that I am a encouraging, strategic and low pressure coach.  If that sounds interesting to you, let's chat in a consult.