Pressure is one of the most important aspects to manage both personally and professionally. And by pressure, I mean the strength, the intensity with which a person faces a certain challenge. Its importance is closely linked to performance and to health and happiness.
Regarding performance, it has been scientifically proven that increases in pressure towards a person (a worker, a student, a professional …) usually lead to increases in performance … until they exceed the optimal point. From this optimum point, new increases in pressure usually lead to decreases in performance.
On a physical level, if a person continuously exceeds the optimal pressure point, he will multiply the possibilities of having health problems such as anxiety, depression, cardiovascular problems …
Therefore, PRESSURE IS UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE VARIABLES MOST IMPORTANT TO MANAGE.
- INTERNALLY. We must analyze at what pressure level we are in a certain activity. If the pressure level is low, it will surely lead to a low level of performance in that area. It will also be a good clue that will tell us that this activity is not of our interest and that perhaps we should look for some other challenge that motivates us more and that, therefore, our pressure increases and with it our performance. On the contrary, if in an area our pressure level is too high, we will have to take action if we want to avoid future problems. Let’s try to lower our dedication, not push ourselves too hard, take breaks, exercise, rest more and better… I know it’s easy to say… but difficult to do. Many people are so hooked on their challenge that they find it difficult to lower their pressure… and some of them end up paying for it with their health and well-being. If you’re in this group, act before it’s too late. In this line, different scientific studies show that a part of our ability to pressure ourselves depends genetically (therefore, we cannot control it) but there is also a part that we can improve, that we can learn to manage our pressure levels.
- EXTERNALLY. Managing the pressure of the people around us is one of the main functions to develop good leadership. If you want to positively influence others (your family, your students, your workers … ) you must manage well the level of pressure in which they move. And to manage the pressure I always recommend “playing against“. That is, when a student, an athlete … has high levels of pressure, performance tends to improve if as leaders we are able to lower their level of pressure: downplaying them, de-dramatizing, looking for distractions, talking to them, warning them of the problems of having continuous high pressure over time … It is necessary to lower high levels of pressure until we get closer to the optimum point, which will undoubtedly lead to improvements in results and well-being. On the other hand, when people have low levels of pressure, it is convenient to work to increase them. Understand well what motivates them and what does not, why they have low levels of pressure and pressure them with different strategies to improve their level of pressure and therefore their level of results.
As Aristotle said, “in balance is virtue.” Very low or very high levels of pressure are not good for anyone. Trying to get somewhere in between will increase our results and well-being.
And I end with two quotes. The first one that summarizes the importance of removing pressure when it is too high. Cheryl Richardson, the American television producer, used to say “pressure is good for tires, not for people.” At the other extreme, the quote that sums up the need to increase pressure to achieve great results is from Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State of the United States: “a diamond is just a chunk of coal that did well under pressure.”
