341: Performance Anxiety and Showing Up Under Pressure - with Dr. Kevin Chapman, Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Sport Performance Anxiety Expert

And I, I'm always so interested in the athlete space and just like performance anxiety, because in a misconception, at least growing up, you see people performing, you're like, they must have no anxiety, or be the most confidence, confident people ever.

And even just like, I'll be honest, even watching the World Cup, I'm like the pressure like when there's a penalty kick and i'm like they're 18 years old or they're this you know age and the whole country is like depending on them just curious in general in your work what you might see or hear some common like misconceptions about performance anxiety in general and what that might look like

You know that honestly, Tara.

And I think that that's a big one.

Like I'm a, I'm the team psychologist for two professional soccer teams also.

And I work with team USA weightlifting.

I'm on their staff.

And, you know, I see that even at athletes at that level, Olympic level athletes, professional athletes, there's the common misconception that I see all the time.

If you're ever on family feud, number one, I answer on the board all the time is that these athletes never have anxiety.

Fake news.

That is not true.

I mean, they always have anxiety.

So it's this idea that if I have anxiety as a professional athlete or a high performer, then I'm cooked.

That's simply not true.

In fact, it's the opposite that's true.

You know, I had a coach who used to say to me, Tara, if you ain't hype, something ain't right.

It's the recognition that anxiety is essential for high performance.

It's not a matter of whether or not you have anxiety.

It's a matter of optimizing it.

We need an optimal level of arousal to help us to compete well.

So in other words, by far the biggest misconception is I'm not supposed to be anxious.

That's simply not true because if I have no arousal, I'm going to get cooked.

If I have too much arousal, I'm going to get cooked.

So the bottom line is I need an optimal level of arousal to be effective on the field, on the pitch, on the court, on the rink, whatever sport you play.

And I, I'm always so interested in the athlete space and just like performance anxiety, because in a misconception, at least growing up, you see people performing, you're like, they must have no anxiety, or be the most confidence, confident people ever.

And even just like, I'll be honest, even watching the World Cup, I'm like the pressure like when there's a penalty kick and i'm like they're 18 years old or they're this you know age and the whole country is like depending on them just curious in general in your work what you might see or hear some common like misconceptions about performance anxiety in general and what that might look like

You know that honestly, Tara.

And I think that that's a big one.

Like I'm a, I'm the team psychologist for two professional soccer teams also.

And I work with team USA weightlifting.

I'm on their staff.

And, you know, I see that even at athletes at that level, Olympic level athletes, professional athletes, there's the common misconception that I see all the time.

If you're ever on family feud, number one, I answer on the board all the time is that these athletes never have anxiety.

Fake news.

That is not true.

I mean, they always have anxiety.

So it's this idea that if I have anxiety as a professional athlete or a high performer, then I'm cooked.

That's simply not true.

In fact, it's the opposite that's true.

You know, I had a coach who used to say to me, Tara, if you ain't hype, something ain't right.

It's the recognition that anxiety is essential for high performance.

It's not a matter of whether or not you have anxiety.

It's a matter of optimizing it.

We need an optimal level of arousal to help us to compete well.

So in other words, by far the biggest misconception is I'm not supposed to be anxious.

That's simply not true because if I have no arousal, I'm going to get cooked.

If I have too much arousal, I'm going to get cooked.

So the bottom line is I need an optimal level of arousal to be effective on the field, on the pitch, on the court, on the rink, whatever sport you play.