A big presentation coming up in three days. Tomorrow’s dinner with a business partner. Presiding over a morning meeting.
When you imagine a situation where you will be tested, such as speaking or performing in front of others, you may become nervous and stiff, wondering what to do if you fail.
「We have to be good at this, you know.」- 「If I make a mistake, my boss might get mad at me…」
- 「My mind went blank and I wondered if I’d be able to progress well…」
- 「The president will be there, so we can’t afford any mistakes…」
- 「What if I oversleep in the morning?」
The closer you get to the big day, the more negative thoughts come into your mind.
You may have trouble sleeping the night before because of overthinking.
There are also those who are teleworking due to coronary heart disease and have work at home on their computers or smartphones, and are bound to work 24 hours a day and feel tense all the time.
In this article, I will describe how to deal with tension in a Buddhist way.
Why are you nervous?
When you imagine giving a presentation or speaking in front of a group of people, you think “I want to speak well and be seen as a good speaker” or “I don’t want to embarrass myself by failing.
These thoughts lead to a strong sense of anxiety and nervousness, and the obsession to avoid failure at all costs becomes stronger and stronger, and the nervousness about the future performance increases day by day.
In other words, at this stage, I’m nervous because I’m not sure if I can be the person I imagine myself to be in the future.
Characteristics of people who get nervous easily
- excessively self-conscious person
- having high aspirations
- I’m not confident in myself.
excessively self-conscious person
The first thing that comes to mind is this.
You think about what people will think of you, which makes you imagine a more idealized version of yourself, which increases your anxiety.
Regardless of what others think, there is nothing positive that can happen to you.
Prepare to the extent you can.
having high aspirations
In the first place, you don’t understand your own capabilities, you are inspired by social networking sites and Youtube to imagine beyond your capabilities, and you increase your anxiety over whether or not you can do it.
Don’t do anything special, your normal performance is enough.
The important thing is whether or not you can convey your thoughts to the other person.
I’m not confident in myself.
Everyone is anxious and lacks confidence when they have failed in the past or when they are doing something for the first time.
If you are holding on to the past, think, “This time it will be okay! If you’re still reeling from the past, think, “It’ll be okay this time! If you’ve been dwelling on the past, think, “It’ll be okay this time!
Can we get past this?
In such cases, the teachings of Buddhism are always clear.
Everything that is of a nature to gather is of a nature to perish.
Pali Buddhist scriptures, “The Great Works”
All things caused by causes will one day disappear.
All the phenomena we experience are caused by a collection of causes, and when those causes disappear, they disappear completely.
The nervousness and anxiety that you are experiencing right now are caused by emotional reasons, such as the desire to look good and lack of confidence, and will disappear as if nothing had happened once the performance is over.
Whether it’s an important presentation or a dinner party, you’ll feel more comfortable if you think, “Whether it goes well or not, everything will pass anyway (impermanence).
If you understand that the world is impermanent, you will realize that there is no single thing in this world that can be seen as real, and that everything is a phenomenon that comes together and flows away.
If this is the case, then we can stop the expansion of anxiety by focusing on the here and now, and not on the memories of the past or the fears of the future.
summary
What do you think?
It is important for people to be one in body and mind.
If your body is in this world, but your mind flies to the past or future, you will have anxiety in your heart.
If you are worried about the future, working on the “here and now” such as “what should I do now” or “if I practice now, I will do well on the show” may lead to a future beyond creation.
A word from the author
I do a lot of presentations in front of people myself, but as I’ve gotten used to it, I don’t feel as nervous as I used to, but the essence of it is not about that, but about how to get the other person to input the contents of the material and implement it, or how to express and explain it in a way that anyone can understand.
It doesn’t matter to the people around me whether I’m nervous or a failure.
By looking at myself from a bird’s eye view, I can take another step forward, but I also face new challenges.
I want to have a spirit that allows me to enjoy this as well.
