One of the most identifiable characteristics of a great leader is the ability to remain calm during chaotic situations. But while it may seem like staying stay calm under pressure is a trait that you are either born with or will never have, it actually is a learned skill.

Learning to stay calm and composed gives you a competitive advantage to be successful. Whether you're navigating the chaotic holiday season or the last seconds of a close game, this skill will help you stay focused on the task at hand, see things with clarity, and calm the chaos around us.

HERE ARE WAYS TO BEGIN DEVELOPING THIS SKILL, A CRITICAL PART OF THE A11 PERFORMANCE MINDSET.

• Understand Fight, Flight, or freeze.

  • The “Fight, Flight, or Freeze” response starts when your amygdalae, the two clusters of grey matter in the brain responsible for processing memory, decision-making, and emotional responses, interpret a situation as a harmful or dangerous — telling your body to take a drastic action. Your breathing becomes short, and your peripheral vision goes away, in what we call tunnel vision. The three found responses to this stimulus are to fight, by acting impulsive and irrationally; to flee, by taking avoiding action immediately; or to freeze, like a deer in headlights.

• Take A Deep Breath, Smile and Talk to yourself.

  • This sounds too simple to actually work, but by taking a few deep breaths, taking notice of your heartbeat, and relaxing your muscles, you have a heightened awareness of your body. The more you do this, the more you’ll feel in control when you need it.

  • Additionally, smiling and laughing helps too. Smiling or laughing releases endorphins, the hormones in your body that help fight off stress. You get a dopamine release as well! 

  • Talking to yourself in the third person seems weird, but it actually helps you visualize outcomes outside of your chaotic situation in front of you. The greats like Nolan Ryan would say "C'mon Nolan. You can do this," after every pitch, or Rickey Henderson's famous story about his first game check.

• Avoid The Extremes.

  • It is never good to get too high, or too low. If you’re too high, your emotions can cloud your judgment and decision making. If you’re too low, you can’t perform well either — you may be overconfident or don’t care enough. A little adrenaline is good for performance. By finding the steady and strong emotional middle ground, you can adjust to the ups-and-downs of life and maintain focus — this sort of stoicism, not natural born talent, is often what makes some of the greatest athletes great. Tom Brady is notorious for this.

• Prepare Your Mind.

  • If you want to be calm and composed down by three points in the 4th quarter or while giving a key presentation at an important business meeting, you must prepare. Visualize the pressure situations you might see in the game or tough questions that might pop-up in the meeting that could throw you off your game. Have an internal dialogue with yourself about how you will respond. This will prepare your mind and body to stay calm and cool when the tough situation you prepared for comes up on the real stage. It's playing the game before the game, so you already know what's coming.

The A11 Performance mindset focuses on building mental toughness to push through any barriers to keep your brain and body ready, every day, for any challenge.