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Translator: Cristina Mantione

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E: What does it mean to perform under[br]pressure in the work that you do?

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S: Performing under pressure, whether[br]it's me or anybody else, is the same.

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You know, I have the same pressure as [br]anyone else. There's time, performance,

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there's financial...I mean, there - you [br]know - there's deadline

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My preassures are not unique.

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The situation's may be different or, you[br]know,

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but everybody has the same kinds of [br]pressures, but what I found or

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what I find fascinating is the [br]interpretation of the stimuli.

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If, if... let me explain: so, I was [br]watching the Olympics,

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this last summer Olympics, and I was[br]amazed at how bad questions were that

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the reporters were to ask to the athletes,[br]and almost always they asked the same

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question, whether they were about to[br]compete or after they competed:

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"Were you nervous, right?"

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And to a tee all the athletes went:

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"No!"

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Right! And what I realized, is it's not[br]that they're not nervous.

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It's the interpretation of what happens in[br]their bodies. I mean, what happens when

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you're nervous, right? Your heart rate[br]starts to go, you know, you sort of get

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a little tensed, you get a little sweaty,[br]right?

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You have expectation of what's coming, and[br]we interpret that "I'm nervous".

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Now, what's the interpretation of excited?[br]Your heart rate starts to go, you become -

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you're anticipating what's coming, right?[br]

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You get a little sort of like tense it's[br]all the same thing.

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It's the same stimuli, except these[br]athletes, these Olympic quality athletes

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have learned to interpret the stimuli that[br]the rest of us would say is nervous as

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excited. They're also the same thing:[br]"No, I'm not nervous. I'm excited, and so

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I've actually practiced it, just to tell[br]myself, when I start to get nervous, that

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this is excitement! You know?

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And so, when I used to speaking in front[br]of a large audience and somebody said:

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"How do you feel like?" I said: [br]"Little nervous."

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Now, when somebody says: [br]"How do you feel like?"

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"Really excited, actually!" And it came [br]from just sort of telling myself:

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"No, no, no. This is excitement!" And it[br]becomes a little bit automatic later on,

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but it's kind of a remarkable thing [br]to deal with preassure by interpreting

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what your body's experiencing as[br]excitement rather than nerves and it's

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really kind of effective. It makes you [br]want to rush for it rather than pull back

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and yet it's the same experience.