Where Does Pressure Come From?

I am a devoted follower of the Finding Mastery podcast by Michael Gervais. His work served as the catalyst for launching my own podcast seven years ago. He frequently presents the following question to his podcast guests, a query that consistently occupies my thoughts.

“Where does pressure come from?”

The question resurfaced in my mind while I was engrossed in the recent Netflix documentary about the University of Florida's football program. Pressure emerged as a prevailing theme in the documentary. From the head coach to the quarterback, the discourse revolved around the concept of pressure.

And yet, if I were to answer Michael’s question, my answer would be quite simple, “From within.” If we truly think about pressure and where it comes from, I think it mostly comes from our response to our environment, which is an internal experience. Think about it. We can be in the same environment and have completely different responses. You may be cool as a cucumber, and I might be as hot as a shishito pepper. What’s the difference? Typically, how we see pressure is determined by our interpretation of the situation.

Want to better handle pressure? Look within for systems, processes, and frameworks that show up when you perform at your best while under the heat of pressure.