Life Will Be Full of Pressure

As Maya is heading to college after graduation, there are lots of skills she is going to need to develop. I think these words from Babe Didrikson Zaharias are really important ones:

Luck? Sure. But only after long practice
and only with the ability to
think under pressure.

– Bab Didrikson Zaharias 1956

Think under pressure. Not panic, not get frantic, don’t create more chaos or flip flop from solution to solution…THINK! It is a skill we see great leaders obtain, and employ on a regular basis. It is the skill that separates the novice from the experienced. And it is the skill most needed in any situation when the unexpected happens. Being able to think – really think – when things are not going right, THAT is an important skill to master.

Anyone can figure out the best step forward when they have peace and quiet, and all the facts. It is easy to determine your future when you have lots of time to process all the aspects. And all of us can relate to life changing decisions made after careful thought, and quiet deliberation. However, life does not always give us time and quiet to ponder the steps to success, so we’re left to think and decide in a pressure cooker providing an solid answer in only a few minutes.

Thinking under pressure sounds like an easy thing, until it happens to you. That moment when there is a medical emergency and you are in the middle of no where. The group meeting where the idea is going off the rail, people are arguing, and no one is listening to anyone else. The opportunity which only offers a short turn around on the decision to go or no go. All of these happen quickly, are filled with anxiety and options, and all of them require being able to think under pressure.

Here is an important reminder. No matter how you make decisions or think, there will always be opportunities where you wished you had gone another direction. Where you now look back and would have chosen another solution, another path, another option. THAT is not thinking under pressure, that is regret. Which is always an option with any direction. Being able to think under pressure means using your ability to synthesize, evaluate, listen and think strategically. What is best for the future, not just best for today? How will what I do impact my role, my job, my family, and the way I feel about myself? What steps will be the natural outcome of my decision, and am I willing to take those steps after I decide one way? Most importantly, how does this decision impact the path I have already chosen? Being able to decide all that – with people watching, with no more time to think, and you are late to catch your flight home – THAT is pressure!

We become who we are by the decisions we make under pressure. Pressure that is real, or pressure that is implied – either way it feels like pressure. Being able to think, stop, analyze and decide is HUGE! So Maya, be willing to make decisions without all the facts, or with the facts that are not in your favor, or dare to push you beyond who you want to become. Be willing to live the life you have chosen even when you’re under pressure. Be willing to say NO, and live with the consequences…and be wiling to live with your very messy YES! Learn how to think well under pressure, because life will always be full of pressure.