Nervous Energy: Friend or Foe?

Have you ever had those weird feelings days, hours, moments before you go into an interview, step out in front of an audience to share your ideas, walk into a room full of strangers?

If you’re anything like me, I’m sure you have.

No matter how many times I’ve presented, despite the hundreds of networking conversations I’ve had, I still feel nervous beforehand.

During?

Well, once it all begins, I’m fine and quite often in my element.

When I first shared my experiences of this nervous energy, I was surprised how many people didn’t believe me. Generally, because they had seen me or met me in the midst and not beforehand.

These insights intrigued me and inspired me to dig a little deeper.

What I learnt, and began to realise, was that this nervous energy, managed in a positive way, was in fact a special superpower.

Not something to beat yourself up about. Or something to avoid or run away from.

Let’s explore this further.

Knowing your energies

In her book Playing Big, Tara Mohr shares two different words for fear, pachad and yirah.

Pachad is the fear which builds thanks to over-emphasising worst case scenarios; of imaging everything negative. It’s our irrational fear.

Yirah on the other hand is the feeling you get when you ‘inhabit a larger space than we are used to’. When you feel like you are ‘in possession of more energy that you’ve had before’. It’s the power of possibility. The power of potential.

Knowing your nervous energies is the first step; next it’s time to understand yours.

Understanding your energy

When you’re nervous about an interview or interaction it’s easy to be hard on yourself. The inner critic going into hyper-drive. “You shouldn’t do this; you can’t do that; you’ll be terrible. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!!!”

How can you possibly get a sense of what’s really going on inside? 

Is it that heady mix of excitement and trepidation? 

Is it a signal personal growth is about to take place?

To help you understand more about what’s going on with you, here’s a mini exercise…

Step 1 – Shine a metaphorical spotlight onto what it is that is making you feel nervous or onto what you know will make you feel nervous beforehand.

Step 2 – Set your timer for 5 minutes and write down or doodle everything you can think of that is making you feel this way. Don’t censor yourself. There are no right or wrong answers.

Step 3 – When you have captured all you can, take a look back at what you have written or doodled.

Step 4 – Next sort out, what is true, what is false, what you don’t know.

Step 5 – Say goodbye to the false, make a plan for the true and re-assess the don’t knows.

Having a better understanding of your situation… and your energy… means you can use it as your special superpower, spurring you on into new situations, helping you shine in different scenarios, enabling you to engage with audiences anywhere.

Nurturing your energy

Turning your nervous energy into your special superpower is not a one-off quick fix.

As you progress through your career; make changes; move into new chapters, you will benefit from nurturing your energy on an ongoing basis.

Here are a few tips on nurturing your nervous energy so you can always turn it into your own special superpower:

1. Take a step back and think about what it is that’s making you generate nervous energy and sort out the myths, truths and action points.
2. Having an emotional reaction to new and different situations shows you care and it matters to you. Being completely numb to every experience might seem like a dream but where’s the fun in that?!!
3. Remember, yirah is a positive sign that personal growth is about to happen. Don’t waste this energy with inaction because you’re mistaking it for irrational fear. Take a moment to check in with your logical self.
4. Create your own personal mix and ways of managing your nervous energy. What works for you is right for you.
5. Be aware of any changes and adapt your approaches accordingly. We all evolve and so do your personal needs.

This article is a sample of the resources found in the Re-energising Your Career Hub.

Header image courtesy of Hal Gatewood on Unsplash