How To Stay Calm Under Pressure

How can you calm down the best?—by staying up. We move in similar ways to the ocean. If the waves in the ocean were to suddenly calm down because they were a little rocky today, could we? No, the ocean could not give a damn; it wouldn't care. However, consider this: suppose you are the captain of a ship that is about to set out on a journey. The waves are rocky and a little crazy that day. The clouds have moved in, and it is raining. It looks like a storm.

Now, if we wanted the sea to be calm, we would struggle whether we set out on that journey that day or not, but if you watch a skilled sailor, they would be able to maintain their composure and reach their destination because they are choosing to learn how to ride the waves. For this reason, if you really want to master your emotions, you should learn how to respond appropriately like a great ship captain rather than saying you needed to be calm, which is ultimately what happens.

The opposite of acceptance is non-acceptance, which comes from the limiting belief that this moment is not how it should be noticed. If you tell yourself that you have to be calm, that belief will cause you to feel more stressed because you aren't calm, and it's from that process that the thoughts, and emotions begin to create even more stress within you. Well, that's not what's happening, so what we have to do instead is just like what a great sailor does—they practice acceptance.

If you are unfamiliar with Alfred Nobel's biography, he was an experimenter who worked on a variety of scientific projects. People were happy that he had passed away because some of his work was really utilized to create bombs; the only issue was that they were unaware that it was actually his brother who had died, not him. He eventually read about this and became so consumed by the idea that everyone despised him and wanted him dead that he fell into such a deep depression.

He therefore made the decision to react to this in a different way. He started to channel this regret-filled negative energy and let it lead him to make wise decisions. He is today recognized as the creator of the Nobel Prize, which honors individuals who dedicate their lives to furthering humankind.

Thus, it's likely that when you think of Alfred Nobel today, you don't picture the man who experimented with explosives; instead, you picture someone who is highly esteemed. He transformed his remorse, which was a negative emotion, into the very force that propelled his successful conclusion.

Imagine putting that energy toward simply accepting that this is how you feel, that this is how it feels right now, that this is what you are experiencing right now. Notice how, in that moment, the energy that is going towards avoidance can actually be used in a very proactive way. You know, sometimes people wish for positive emotions thinking that's when your life will change, but in reality even positive emotions can equal something bad for your life. Let's say you're stressed, and you are saying, "I shouldn't be stressed,” doesn’t that make you feel pretty more stressed?

What I'm trying to say is that you can genuinely thrive when you learn to surf any emotion. So if you are experiencing a particular set of feelings at the moment and it is not working out, decide to ride the wave. Instead of becoming lost in the waves, learn how to surf them.