I was listening to a podcast hosted by LeBron James a few weeks ago. He was talking about managing emotions in high stakes situations. 

While I am not a basketball fan myself, I was curious. 

LeBron James is one of the greatest all-around basketball players of all time. During his 18-year career, he won three NBA championships with three different franchises, four MVP awards and two Olympic medals. 

He is no stranger to high stakes situations. I felt I could learn a few things from him.  

His 3-steps to managing high stress situations were great reminders: 

1. Deep Breathing. When in a stressful situation, breathe deeply. Breath is a power source for concentration. It is a way to tell the body and mind to relax. It is also an easy-to-access anti-stressor. 

2. Put on the Blinders. Triple crown horses use blinders. Chaos surrounds these horses, but they don’t see anything but the finish line, their goal. They have absolute focus on one single thing. Putting on these metaphorical blinders in stressful situations maintains focus. 

3. Tune Out the Noise. There are many things bombarding your attention - business deals, family challenges. These need to be put aside. You also need to tune out the emotions of others.  Teammates may be nervous. Your opponent may be aggressive. When everyone else is tense, you need to stay calm and locked in the moment. Tune out the noise. 

I know I don’t face the high stakes situations that a professional athlete experiences. But we all face pressure and have big moments. We all have fans and doubters. We all have goals and dreams, doubts and fears.  

We also all have emotions.  

Emotions can betray us. They can take us down in high pressure situations.  

When we let our emotions take over, we often lose confidence and focus. It is natural, but it isn’t helpful. 

Taking deep breathes, putting on those blinders and tuning out the noise are three things that may help anyone win the mental and emotional game in our mind.   

As LeBron James aptly states, “we can either own these big moments, or they can own us. When the pressure is on, take that breath and have confidence.”