How Are You in a Crisis?

I just read a leadership article at work and it resonated with me - as most do.

This one is about how we handle ourselves during a crisis.

While the article talks about managers during a crisis event, it resonated VERY much so with playing in pool tournaments and competing.

Have you noticed that sometimes people falter during a tough, important match?

Well, this article makes good points - it's what we do under certain situations and how we handle stress.  Why some people can play well under pressure, while newcomers in the finals of a tourney do not.

Stress and pressure cause the same reactions in competing as in a real life crisis:  we have a fight or flight response.

As the article states:

"This means that at the time we are faced with a crisis, our bodies undergo physiological changes that prepare us for a response. Among these are increased respiration and heart rate, auditory exclusion and tunnel vision. These changes can inhibit our ability to think rationally and limit our decision making capacity. The greater the crisis, the more extreme the reaction."

Whew.  Been there; done that (still feel it a at times).

OMgosh can you pictures and almost "feel" these stress indicators from a past match?  I sure can!  I can picture that time I felt so much stress I wasn't even thinking clear enough to realize the perfect safe right in front of me.  It was like oxygen was cut from my brain.  Stress definitely can limit our decision making capabilities. 

Luckily there are solutions to how we handle ourselves under pressure, or as the article talks about, during a crisis.

The article gives three suggestions that you can read about in more detail here, but basically:

1. Direct experience - I have written numerous times how I can play well in the finals or as the clutch because I have been in the situation A LOT now.
2. Learning from the experience of others - improve your game by reading, watching videos, reading bios of other athletes not in pool, etc.
3. Simulations - in regard to playing pool, I would attribute this to gambling or playing in weekly tournaments.

Good luck and BREATHE!  Slows downs that adrenaline and helps you think,. too.  :)