Anxiety Level....

What's your optimum level of anxiety to perform your best?

I perform best when I have a moderate level of anxiety. When I'm overly stressed.. too much anxiety, I tend to shut down. I can't concentrate and I just can't seem to take action because it's all too overwhelming. My reaction is to do nothing, to quit or not try at all and just give up. It reduces my anxiety from a high level to a low level quickly when I respond to high anxiety that way. I just don't perform which takes away that feeling. Quitting reduces my anxiety to a low level, the performance stress is gone, but not the stress of letting myself down.

If I know I'll be in a situation where I feel it could potentially be a high anxiety level, such as running a race. I will go through a mental check list. I tell myself.. I'm only competing against myself. This is to better me. It's for my knowledge, my own personal gains on a better, faster time. I also know I need to allow myself plenty of extra time to prepare for a high anxiety performance. I need to get to the race location early at least an hour before the race begins. I don't want to feel rushed. I want to be able to check out the running race route, talk to other competitors, see the starting area, stretch and calm myself to be able to focus on the race ahead of me. This brings me to a moderate level of anxiety before the start of a race. I have the drive to do well, I don't shut down since I've had time to prepare and feel in control of my race. When I feel in control of  my performance at a moderate level of anxiety I feel the best.

Yesterday morning I had my first test in one of my classes. It was a 5 chapter test. A complete book of the body, systems, functions, hormones, movement, nutrition, muscles, bones etc.. A lot to know and a lot to remember. This was a high anxiety situation. I wanted to do well because I signed up to take this class to do it for fun. To learn more and maybe become a personal trainer. I also wanted to learn the information for me, to be more knowledgeable. I've been reading, studying for the past 5 weeks to bring my anxiety levels down to moderate. It's not a lot of time to cram in so much information. Too much to remember, but I did it. I spent the time studying, reading and memorizing. I came away from that test feeling great about all I knew. I haven't received my grade, but I feel good about the test. I'm glad I put in way more effort then I thought I needed to do. I wanted to be prepared and I wanted to know this information I was learning. I'll need it to pass the ACE Certification exam to become a personal trainer. The more I know.. the better trainer I will make.

I don't know if I will ever work as a personal trainer. Right now.. I'm still learning and I'm hoping by December I will be confident about my skills to be a personal trainer. Only time will tell... So far.. I'm liking the changes I made in my life. I like the decision I made to take a risk.. go  back to school and learn something new. It's a new journey.. finding out what I want to do in life.. the rest of my life or part of my new life. Part of the new me!! I just had to discover who I am again.. and I'm doing just that..one day at a time.