Pressure is a Privilege: How Mental Skills Help Us Rise, Not Crumble

There’s a famous quote by tennis legend Billie Jean King: “Pressure is a privilege - it only comes to those who earn it.” At ACE, we believe in this sentiment wholeheartedly. But we also know that how we experience pressure - whether it becomes a crucible or a catalyst; depends on the mental skills we develop and deploy in real-time.

Pressure isn’t just reserved for elite athletes or high-stakes leaders. It’s universal. Students feel it before an exam. Parents feel it in moments of decision and uncertainty. Creatives, teachers, entrepreneurs, and frontline workers all feel it in different ways. The context may shift, but the internal process is deeply human. So the question isn’t how to avoid pressure, but rather how to meet it with awareness, skill, and purpose.

Pressure Changes Our Physiology and Psychology

When pressure hits, the body and mind respond rapidly. Our heart rate elevates. Breathing becomes shallow. The brain’s threat system lights up, reducing access to our executive functions - those same mental faculties we rely on to make clear decisions, stay composed, and connect with others meaningfully (Arnsten, 2009).

This means that without training, we’re more likely to fall into reactive patterns - fight, flight, or freeze. In these moments, mental skills become less of a luxury and more of a necessity.

Mental Skills as Anchors in the Storm

Mental skills are the internal tools that help us regulate emotion, focus attention, and direct action under pressure. Think of them like anchors in rough seas; tools that keep us steady without needing the storm to stop.

Some of the most effective include:

• Self-awareness: The cornerstone skill. If we can’t notice what’s happening internally, we can’t work with it. Self-awareness helps us name our experience without being overwhelmed by it (Brown et al., 2007).
  
  

• Breath control and physiological regulation: Conscious breathing can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, helping to downregulate stress responses (Jerath et al., 2006).
  
  

• Reframing and perspective-taking: The ability to shift our view; seeing pressure as a challenge rather than a threat can directly influence performance outcomes (Jamieson et al., 2013).
  
  

• Values-aligned action: In moments of pressure, returning to our core values and purpose can anchor behaviour and promote courage (Hayes et al., 2006).
  
  

It’s Not Just About Coping - It’s About Expanding Capacity

One of the most misunderstood aspects of mental skills training is the belief that it’s simply about staying calm or relaxed. In reality, it’s about expanding our capacity to hold pressure without collapsing. Calm isn’t always the goal - clarity is.

Mental skills training teaches us that pressure doesn’t have to shrink us. With practice, it can sharpen us. When pressure is paired with preparation, it can reveal what we’re truly capable of.

As high-performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais puts it, “We don’t rise to the level of our hopes - we fall to the level of our training.” That’s why mental skills are trained, not just talked about.

Training in Context

At ACE, we support individuals, teams, and leaders to practice these skills in the environments that matter most to them - whether that’s the boardroom, the classroom, the field, or at home.

We work with people to:

• Build personal philosophies that shape how they interpret pressure.
  
  

• Cultivate routines and rituals that create consistency under chaos.
  
  

• Develop reflection practices to learn from high-pressure moments rather than avoid them.

It’s not about becoming pressure-proof. It’s about becoming pressure-ready.

Final Thought: Don’t Wait for the Moment - Train for It

Pressure often feels like a test. But the real preparation happens long before the spotlight. It happens in the quiet moments - when you practice grounding breath on a regular Tuesday, reflect on a conversation that didn’t go well, or recommit to your values when no one’s watching.

That’s what we call mental skill: the choice to respond with awareness and purpose, even when the stakes are high.

So the next time pressure shows up, remember - it’s a privilege. And you’re more ready for it than you think.

References

Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009). Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), 410–422. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2648

Brown, K. W., Ryan, R. M., & Creswell, J. D. (2007). Mindfulness: Theoretical foundations and evidence for its salutary effects. Psychological Inquiry, 18(4), 211–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/10478400701598298

Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy: The process and practice of mindful change. Guilford Press.

Jamieson, J. P., Nock, M. K., & Mendes, W. B. (2013). Mind over matter: Reappraising arousal improves cardiovascular and cognitive responses to stress. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(3), 852–868. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029288

Jerath, R., Edry, J. W., Barnes, V. A., & Jerath, V. (2006). Physiology of long pranayamic breathing: Neural respiratory elements may provide a mechanism that explains how slow deep breathing shifts the autonomic nervous system. Medical Hypotheses, 67(3), 566–571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2006.02.042

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