I have said this time and time again, our body is a finely tuned machine and has eons of reactions and responses programmed into it. It is going to react and do things in ways that we don’t fully understand due to hundreds of years of evolution and adaptation for survival.
Public speaking, stepping into a new gym, taking a test, singing in front of others all have one thing in common. There is a certain biological reaction that occurs that most of us would label as fear or nervousness when doing something new, competing, etc. But is it really fear or is that just what we are labeling it? Back in the caveman days before humans had the word fear or nervous what did we label it? What is the purpose of this biological response?
Along with or because of this “nervous” feeling we experience increases in heart rate, adrenaline, senses, reaction time, strength, and decision making speed. It sounds like a superpower to me! All of these things are specifically designed to make us BETTER to either fight or flee. Thus, are we really nervous or are we primed and pumped for action? The latter of course.
It is only once we label this feeling nervous or scared or fear that our built-in mechanism short circuits. All we have to do when we feel this feeling is re-label it or as they say in this study reappraise the situation from nervous to excited. You are going to feel these feelings no matter what and that is good because that is your body turning you into a superhero! However, even superheroes don’t amount to anything if they don’t use their power for good.
According to the study aforementioned all you had to do is change the words you say from “I am nervous” to “I am excited”. This helps you take control of your emotions and be the superhero that your body knows you can be.