Andrew Badham 2018-08-21 11:36:22
Picture a scene. A springbok stands calmly but vigilantly eating grass. A cheetah lurks in the thick veld, trying its best to remain unseen, unheard and downwind. The cheetah missteps and a patch of grass crunches underfoot. The springbok perks up, wasting no time deliberating the potential threat, and launches itself away from the sound. The cheetah explodes from its concealment to pursue the startled prey. Both animals tear across the plains as fast as they possibly can.
If you’ve ever happened upon a nature documentary, that scene is probably quite familiar to you. And, although you’d never truly know how either animal feels about the situation, you’ve probably made some empathetic guesses. For starters, you’d probably assume the poor antelope was rather terrified. The cheetah? Hungry? Expectant? That’s maybe a little harder to pin down, but you’d expect that, at the very least, it’s a little excited. What’s perhaps a little counterintuitive is that both animals’ feelings are largely similar.
Neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and adrenaline are released in both scenarios. Both of their heart rates are up, they’re breathing heavily, and they’re extremely alert. The difference between them is fairly obvious though. One of them is feeling rather positive about the whole scenario. The other one… not so much. The key difference is in their respective expectations; one of them is expecting a delicious meal, while the other is expecting a painful death.
Thankfully, the situations we face are rarely so dramatic. While it might feel like your presentation to that all-important client is a life-or-death scenario, it really isn’t. Nevertheless, your body responds to that situation with the same physiological response. The question is, what are you expecting? A hard earned reward like the cheetah, or an uncomfortable defeat like the springbok?
If you’re like most people, the chances are you’re anticipating a negative outcome. Don’t worry, that doesn’t immediately qualify you as a pessimist, in fact, it’s quite normal. Our minds try to anticipate how situations could potentially go wrong so that they can prepare for and avoid mishaps. That’s a good thing. That is, it’s a good thing to an extent. After a certain amount of time, you’re no longer preparing yourself for real possibilities so much as ruminating on the possible negative consequences. All that will do is send your stress through the roof.
At that point, after we’ve adequately prepared, it’s time to start anticipating good things. Stop imagining scowls on your audience’s faces; start imagining impressed nods of agreement. Stop picturing the deal fall apart; start picturing a handshake and a smile at the end of it all. It’s not limited to what you think either. Monitor what you say out loud. Do you say to people that you’re becoming super nervous, or do you tell them you’re excited?
It might seem like a small change, but that shift in mindset is what differentiates eagerness from anxiety. It’s the difference between actively seeking an outcome and trying to avoid one. Sometimes it helps to think in pictures, which is why I like the analogy of the hunter and the hunted. It’s a simple and recognisable scenario to help inform your attitude. Either way, if something important is coming up in your schedule, your body is going to start amping itself up for it. The question is, are you thinking like a predator or prey?