Pressure vs. Demand, and the Pea Soup
Has pressure ever affected you? Probably yes.
If pressure has affected you, as we assume, this article will be useful whether you read it as an athlete or as a team leader.
Pressure
It is everything that comes from your exterior and, consequently, is not under your control. A good exercise we recommend is to try to identify such situations.
A couple of examples:
- If you are an athlete, and the hours before a game, you only think you must score a goal, Error! Because it does not depend solely and exclusively on you. You are putting pressure on yourself.
- If you are a coach: Imagine that in the pre-game talk, you tell your team: We must score a goal in the first 10 minutes of the game, Error! You already know why, right? Well, yes, you are putting pressure on them.
You must learn not to put pressure on yourself but instead learn to demand of yourself.
Demand
It is asking (demanding) yourself to do everything that is under your control, everything that depends solely on you, and making every effort to achieve it.
A couple of good examples as an alternative to the previous examples:
- If you are an athlete, the hours before a game, think about your role, your obligations during your team's attacking phase, focus on the work you will have to do, and demand that you achieve it. Most likely, you will have a better chance of scoring your desired goal.
- If you are a coach: In the pre-game talk, ask your team to work for the first 10 minutes to exert very intense high pressure on the opponent and demand that they do it. Most likely, you will have a better chance of surprising your opponent and being ahead on the scoreboard in the early minutes of the game.
Pea Soup
You must be wondering what 'Pea Soup' has to do with the headline of this article. Well, it has nothing to do with it at all; it was just a distraction in the headline. We just want you to learn from now on to separate the wheat from the chaff, leave the pea soups (distractions) aside, and manage to demand of yourself instead of putting pressure on yourself.
Related Topics
If this topic is useful to you, we recommend three of our courses:
'Learn from the Champions' by Pep Marí
'Educate Your Attitude' by Tania Lamarca
'Mental Management Tools' by Tony Rham
Thank you very much,
Vibliotec