Using Anxiety For Peak Performance

When Adam Wright and Nick Holton work with elite athletes, they want athletes to know: performance anxiety isn't your enemy—it's energy waiting to be channeled. As Wright explains, "What we initially see as a threat we need to switch and look at as a challenge or an opportunity." This isn't just positive thinking; it's backed by science.

When we encounter a stressful situation, our body releases adrenaline and noradrenaline: fight or flight. What happens next, say Holton and Wright, depends entirely on how we assess the situation. As Wright notes, "It's not the initial response that we have to the stressor, it's the assessment of that stressor and our skill set." When we view the situation as an opportunity rather than a threat, our physiology actually changes, turning that nervous energy into "energy to engage and move forward as opposed to hide and retreat." Listen to our interview:

From Butterflies to Lift-Off

Consider this real-world example shared by Wright: A professional baseball pitcher he worked with would experience severe anxiety the night before games, complete with stomach issues and headaches. Instead of seeing these symptoms as predictors of poor performance, Wright helped reframe them: "We don't want to get rid of the butterflies. We want to get them from flying chaotically to some linear fashion."

The key insight? You can perform well even when you're not feeling your best. As Nick Holton points out, this is what creates "clutch" performances—those moments of excellence under pressure that don't necessarily feel good while they're happening.

Practical Steps for Channeling Anxiety

1. Recognize and Label: Instead of fighting anxiety, acknowledge its presence. There's a powerful difference between saying "I am anxious" and "I'm experiencing anxiety." This separation—what ACT psychologists call "defusion"—is your first step toward mastery.

2. Create Routines: Wright emphasizes the importance of establishing routines that serve as emotional anchors. These aren't just physical actions; they're tools that help you move forward with agency and autonomy.

3. Focus on Process, Not Outcome: True confidence isn't about feeling certain of success. As Wright explains, "It's not attached to the outcome... It's attached to the process. I know the steps and strategies. I know the behaviors involved to learn and get better."

Building Anti-Fragile Performance

The goal isn't to eliminate anxiety but to build what experts call "anti-fragile" performance capabilities. This means using lower-stakes situations as opportunities to practice managing anxiety. As Holton points out, it's actually "lucky" when we get to "experience high-level performance anxiety in a low-risk situation" because it helps us prepare for when the stakes are higher.

A New Perspective on Confidence

Perhaps most importantly, we need to rethink what confidence means. True confidence isn't about feeling certain you'll succeed; it's about trusting your process. As Wright explains, it's about "prioritizing, mastering the skills, improving my performance, learning from my experiences in both positive and negative, regardless of the immediate result."

This approach acknowledges that while we can't control everything (like a coach's decisions or external circumstances), we can control our preparation and response. As Holton emphasizes, success comes from putting in "the steps each day that are values aligned, that are process oriented, that allow you to adapt to the highest probability possible." Practicing is key.

In Practice

- When you feel anxiety rising, pause and label it: "I'm experiencing performance energy."

- Develop and stick to pre-performance routines that help anchor you.

- Focus on what's in your control: preparation, process, and response.

- View lower-stakes situations as valuable opportunities to practice managing performance anxiety (like a rehearsal, not a performance).

- Remember that you can perform excellently even when you don't feel your best.

Your anxiety isn't going anywhere—and that's okay. It can be your "co-pilot"- it certainly is for me. The goal isn't to silence it but to direct its energy for better performance. 

Morra