Podcast Summary
The Mental Game of Performing Under Pressure: Pressure can be learned and adapted to with mental preparation and resilience, not just technical expertise.
While pressure can negatively impact performance, especially for children in high-stakes situations, it is a skill that can be learned and adapted to. Maria Konnikova, a psychologist and poker player, shares her personal experience and research on the mental game of performing under pressure. She emphasizes that it's not just about technical expertise or proficiency, but having a strong mental game that allows individuals to execute when the pressure is on. Maria also shares her own struggle with hubris, assuming that her background in psychology would make her an exceptional mental game player, only to discover that it was one of the areas she had to work on the hardest. Overall, the conversation highlights the importance of mental preparation and resilience in performing under pressure, regardless of the field or domain.
Exploring life's challenges through poker: Poker offers a unique perspective on decision making under uncertainty and pressure, providing valuable insights for life.
The author, a psychologist and writer, turned to poker as a way to understand and cope with uncertainty and pressure in her life. Initially having no interest in games or poker, she was drawn to it as a metaphor for dealing with life's challenges and learning to distinguish skill from chance. The author was inspired by John von Neumann, a mathematician and father of game theory who was also an avid poker player. Von Neumann believed that poker was an excellent model for decision making in life due to its inherent uncertainty and imperfect information. For the author, poker became a "laboratory of the mind" to explore these concepts in real life situations. Despite her academic background, she found that performing under pressure in poker was vastly different from her experience in academia. This insight led her to write a book about her experiences and the lessons she learned from poker.
Understanding Pressure and Performing in High-Stakes Situations: Preparation through mental strategies like visualization and implementation intentions can help improve performance and reduce negative effects of pressure in high-stakes situations.
Performing under pressure is a common challenge, not just for athletes but also for individuals in various professions, including academia. The metaphors and vocabulary used to describe this phenomenon often come from sports, such as the "yips" in golf or "Steve Blass disease" in baseball. For those facing high-stakes situations where choking can have significant financial and reputational consequences, preparation is key. As a psychologist, Maria shared her personal experience of using research-backed techniques, such as visualization and implementation intentions, to help her cope with the pressure of playing poker. These techniques involve creating if-then plans and mental rehearsals to prepare for potential challenges and to help maintain focus and composure. It's important to note that these strategies don't guarantee success but can help improve performance and reduce the negative effects of pressure. Overall, the discussion highlights the importance of understanding the psychology of performing under pressure and the role that preparation and mental strategies can play in overcoming challenges in various domains.
Visualizing potential obstacles and planning responses: Prepare for high-stakes situations by visualizing potential obstacles and planning out responses in advance, write down plans for improved focus and deliberate thought process.
Effective preparation for high-stakes situations involves visualizing potential obstacles and planning out responses in advance. This practice, which was discussed in relation to tournament poker, can help individuals think through complex situations and react optimally when faced with unexpected challenges. Writing down these plans can be particularly beneficial, as it forces a more detailed and deliberate thought process. Visualization of both positive outcomes and potential obstacles is important, as focusing solely on the positive can lead to a lack of urgency or sense of preparedness. Conversely, dwelling too much on potential obstacles can lead to anxiety or paralysis. Finding a balance between the two and visualizing how to navigate potential challenges can lead to improved performance and resilience.
Adopt a fresh mindset and focus externally for better decision-making under pressure: When under pressure, approach decisions with a fresh mindset and focus on the task or situation to enhance performance
When facing setbacks or high-pressure situations, it's crucial to adopt a fresh mindset and approach each decision as if it were your first. This can help prevent suboptimal reactions, such as becoming too risk-averse or risk-seeking. Additionally, external attentional focus, or focusing on the task or situation at hand rather than internal thoughts, has been shown to improve performance under pressure. The research on this phenomenon is not definitive, but the external focus can be seen as a reliable strategy to enhance decision-making. Practicing these mental strategies in advance can help prevent freezing up in the moment.
Focusing on body movements can hinder performance: Shifting focus away from ourselves and external distractions can improve performance and reduce pressure.
Focusing too much on our own body movements during physical activities can hinder our performance, leading to unnecessary contractions, energy waste, and decreased accuracy. Gabrielle's research suggests that an external focus, which activates unconscious and faster control processes, results in more efficient, fluid, and accurate movements. This theory is similar to how focusing too much on our breath can make it difficult to breathe smoothly. By shifting our attention away from ourselves and external distractions, we can improve our performance and reduce the pressure that often comes with higher expectations. An example of this can be seen in playing a musical instrument, where focusing too much on our fingers can disrupt the automaticity of our performance and cause us to forget what comes next.
Focusing too much on internal thoughts can lead to chokes: Recognizing external reality and task at hand can help reduce chokes in high-pressure situations, and practicing and familiarity with material can build confidence
Performing under pressure can be challenging, and when we focus too much on our internal thoughts and expectations, we may experience mental blocks or "chokes." The speaker shared a personal experience of freezing during a piano competition, where she couldn't remember the next part of her piece. She realized that the audience, except for a few people, didn't notice her mistake and continued to enjoy the music. This realization made her understand that when we focus too much on our internal thoughts and expectations, we may lose sight of the external reality and the task at hand. This can happen to anyone, not just professional athletes or performers, and it's essential to recognize this phenomenon to avoid getting trapped in our minds during high-pressure situations. The speaker's experience also highlights the importance of practicing and being familiar with the material to build confidence and reduce the likelihood of choking under pressure.
Preparation and emotional regulation boost performance under pressure: Expressive writing reduces stress, visualization enhances performance, and emotional regulation techniques benefit children in high-pressure situations
Effective preparation and emotional regulation can significantly improve performance under high-pressure situations. The speaker shared her personal experience of performing poorly in a final exam despite extensive journal writing, but she acknowledged that she could have benefited from more deliberate visualization and expressive writing. A study by Sian Bylock and her colleagues, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, supports the idea that expressive writing can help reduce stress and improve perceived control, thereby optimizing performance. The Yerkes-Dodson law, which describes the inverse relationship between arousal and performance, suggests that high levels of arousal can be beneficial for skilled individuals. In real-life situations, children, regardless of their talents in basketball or piano, can benefit from practicing emotional regulation techniques and visualization to enhance their performance under pressure.
Preparation and mental resilience for handling pressure: Effective preparation, mental visualization, and accepting non-optimal performance are crucial for thriving under pressure. Permission to make mistakes is essential for learning and growth.
Effective preparation and mental resilience are key to performing well under pressure. Both Rhea and Angela emphasized the importance of thorough preparation and visualization in handling high levels of arousal. Angela shared her personal experience of using these strategies to pass her neurobiology exam and succeed in her academic career. She also emphasized the importance of accepting non-optimal performance and giving oneself permission to make mistakes as part of the learning process. Maria added to the conversation by discussing the similarities between choking in academic and competitive settings, such as poker. The episode concluded with an invitation for listeners to share their own stories of dealing with pressure and choking, and the production team's promise to play selected stories on future episodes. The fact check segment clarified the differences between pool, billiards, and snooker, and debunked the origin story of pool being named after a game involving chickens.
Scarcity mindset: Limiting beliefs and fear of depletion: Recognizing and addressing scarcity mindset, whether rooted in cultural practices or personal financial struggles, can prevent limiting beliefs and help us envision and pursue opportunities beyond fear of depletion.
The mindset of scarcity, whether it's rooted in cultural practices or personal financial struggles, can limit our potential and lead us to accept less than ideal situations out of fear. Isabelle Baggio from the Philippines shared how her country's practice of buying and trading in small amounts, or "tingit," has instilled a scarcity mindset in Filipinos, preventing them from thinking and envisioning in larger scales. Sean Kernick, a mural artist from Raleigh, North Carolina, described how he labels the scarcity of resources in his world as "hungry money," and how it forces him to take on less desirable work out of fear of depleting his resources. This fear can lead to a compounding negative effect, making it essential to recognize and anticipate scarcity mindset before it takes hold.
