This will largely depend on your personality, but the experience is fairly universal among most people. How is it that some people are able to thrive under pressure whereas others have a tendency to choke? Is it a simple matter of perspective or is it something more than that?

For example, let’s say that you are a particularly good basketball player and you have no problem sinking shots from the free throw line. Standing alone at your local court, you’ll drain one shot after another without breaking a sweat. Now, let’s put you in the middle of Madison Square Gardens, surrounded by thousands of roaring fans. If you sink this shot, you walk away with a million dollars and everyone in the crowd gets a free t-shirt. Miss and you get nothing but ear-shattering boos from an angry mob of disappointed fans. I think you’d agree that this presents quite a different scenario.

Pressure can change everything, but only if you let it do so. It is really easy to let the possibility of a grand reward hamper your skills and abilities. It’s far too easy to let that pot of gold blind you, getting you to make mistakes that you otherwise would not make. Again, this only happens if you let it happen.

Always strive to do your absolute best, because you never know when you may be faced with a high-pressure environment. Treat every situation with an equal level of importance and never put in a half-hearted effort. If you’re going to do something, do it well. For a freelance writer, for instance, writing for a major publication like the New York Times warrants the same level of professionalism, tact, and attention to detail as the small upstart website.

With this kind of mindset, it won’t matter whether you’re shooting hoops in the backyard or in the NBA Finals, because you’ll be equally confident in your skills as a basketball superstar. Nothing but net. Swish!