What to Do When You Get Butterflies In Your Stomach
A simple trick to tame the butterfly feeling
We all know this feeling. We are about to get on the stage, and we feel butterflies in our stomachs. It doesn't matter if the stage is a presentation, an interview, a competitive sports match, or a wedding proposal. We all get butterflies.
Even professional athletes like Roger Federer, who have been at the finals of numerous grand slams, feel butterflies in their stomachs to date (11:23). He says that it's the part of the experience and it makes them human.
Is having butterflies is a bad thing?
No. in fact, having butterflies is a good thing. When we have butterflies, it means we are stepping out of our comfort zone. We are exploring new things. Things with which we may not have any prior experience, and we may potentially fail at or were too scared to do. And now, we are trying to overcome it.
How do we overcome butterflies?
We can't eliminate the butterflies, but we can make all of them flaps in one direction.
Here's how we can do that:
Close our eyes.
Take a deep, deep, deep, deep breath.
Exhale from mouth.
Drink a sip of water.
Stand in superman pose (chest outwards, hands-on-hips)
And say to ourselves, "I've got this! Let's GO"
That's all it takes. Once they are flapping together, they create an internal force powerful enough to get us through to the other side.
Next time you see someone on the stage, notice them exhaling. They are orienting their butterflies to fly in one direction.
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