Step 1
Check-in on recent pressure moments: games, races, performances, presentations, hard conversations.
Resilience & Performing Under Pressure
Stay steady when the moment gets loud.
Pressure doesn’t just test your skills—it tests your nervous system. You can be prepared, trained, and talented, and still tighten up, blank out, or fade when the stakes are high. Resilience and performing under pressure aren’t about caring less; they’re about having a body and brain that know how to stay online when it counts. Brandon helps you understand your pressure response at a nervous-system level so you can handle big moments with more clarity, composure, and trust in yourself.
What this really feels like
Trouble performing under pressure rarely means you’re unprepared. It usually looks like this:
On the outside
- You perform well in practice, meetings, scrimmages, or rehearsals—but fall short in games, races, presentations, or high-visibility moments.
- Your body tightens, your timing changes, or your technique falls apart when eyes are on you.
- Your mind races with “don’t mess this up,” “don’t blow it,” or “everyone’s watching.”
- You replay mistakes for days, even after objectively solid performances.
- Big moments leave you strangely drained or numb, even if they technically went fine.
On the inside
- You find yourself avoiding opportunities, roles, or stages you’re technically ready for.
- You’re tired of being the person who “could be great if they’d just get out of their own way.”
- You might call it choking, freezing, stage fright, performance anxiety, or “I fall apart when it matters.” Internally, it can feel like your body betrays you right when you need it most.
- That doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means your nervous system has learned to treat pressure as threat—and it’s hitting the brakes to keep you safe.
Why quick fixes have not worked
Most advice about resilience and pressure is either vague or brutal. Those ignores how your system actually works. If you only stack positive self-talk or visualization on top of a nervous system in full threat mode, your body doesn’t believe you. You end up thinking you “failed at mindset work” instead of realizing your physiology was never on board. Brandon’s work is about training your system to feel safer and more capable under pressure so your skills can actually show up.
What’s really going on:
- Your nervous system reacts to pressure as if it were physical danger: heart rate spikes, breathing changes, muscles tighten, vision narrows.
- Your history—past failures, injuries, criticism, or humiliations—can wire certain situations as “unsafe.”
- Your environment might be high stakes, highly evaluative, or unforgiving of mistakes.
- Your habits under stress (overthinking, perfectionism, hiding, over-controlling) may be things that used to protect you.
- Your recovery from hard efforts and stressful events may be weak or nonexistent.
How Brandon works with resilience & performing under pressure
Instead of just hyping you up or telling you to “relax,” Brandon uses a structured, nervous-system–aware approach.
4-step process
1
Map your pressure profile
Clarify where things fall apart and where they don’t: which situations, people, and stakes trigger the biggest reactions. You’ll look at how pressure shows up in your body (tight chest, shaky hands, blank mind, tunnel vision), and what you tend to do to cope (over-prepare, joke, withdraw, rush, over-control).
2
Identify your triggers & patterns
Spot what your system is treating as threat: being watched, fear of letting people down, high expectations, physical risk, past injuries or failures, certain environments, or specific roles. You’ll make sense of why your reactions are there, instead of treating them as random flaws.
3
Train your nervous system for pressure
Run targeted experiments: breath and vision drills before pressure moments, movement or posture changes, graded exposure to stress (small reps before big reps), pre-performance routines that actually settle you, and post-performance decompression so your system learns you can survive and learn from big moments.
4
Build a resilience framework, not just a one-off fix
Design routines and habits that build resilience over time: how you prepare, how you talk to yourself, how you reset after mistakes, and how you protect your recovery so you don’t live right at the edge. The goal is to create a body and mind that know, “We’ve been here before—and we know what to do.”
What progress can look like
Resilience isn’t about never feeling pressure. It’s about what your system does with that pressure. Pressure doesn’t disappear. But it stops feeling like a tidal wave that wipes out everything you’ve trained for.
Less dramatic drop-off between practice and performance.
A more focused, usable kind of nervousness instead of full-on panic or shutdown.
Faster recovery after mistakes—a few moments to reset instead of spiraling for the rest of the game, talk, or meeting.
The ability to take on bigger roles, tougher opponents, or more responsibility without completely frying.
Clearer recall of what happened during high-pressure moments, instead of a vague blur.
A growing sense of “I can handle this” grounded in reps, not just hope.
What to expect in a session
Sessions are built to be direct and practical. You’re not here to be told to “just calm down.” You don’t need perfect notes or a highlight reel. Coming in with “here’s when I felt myself wobble” is enough to start real work.
Format1:1 coaching via secure video (or in-person when available).
LengthApproximately 50 minutes for a standard session.
Shape of a typical session:
Step 2
Walkthrough of what you experienced in your body, thoughts, and behavior—step by step.
Step 3
Review of any routines or tools you tried and how they landed.
Step 4
Identification of one to three specific adjustments or experiments to test in your next pressure situation (or in lower-stakes practice first).
About Your Coach
Meet Brandon Day
Brandon Day is a Pain and Performance Coach who works with athletes, performers, leaders, and high-responsibility humans whose systems are under constant demand. He focuses on the nervous system as the link between your body, your mind, and your performance under pressure. Brandon understands that you can’t think your way out of a full-body threat response. Sessions with him are grounded in physiology and real-world demands: game days, races, key presentations, tough negotiations, and high-stakes conversations.
Focus Areas
Resilience and performing under pressure, sports performance and PRs, confidence and self-belief, pain and performance, nervous-system regulation, sustainable high performance.
How He Works
1:1 remote sessions, small experiments rather than abstract lectures, collaborative planning around your actual schedule and season, coordination with coaches, therapists, or medical providers when useful.
What Clients Say
“I used to either overhype myself or completely freeze in big moments. With Brandon, we trained my body for pressure, not just my mindset. I still feel nerves, but they’re something I can ride—not something that rides me.”
Common Questions
Common Questions
Is this sports psychology or therapy?
No. Brandon is a coach, not a licensed psychologist or therapist. He does not diagnose mental health conditions or provide psychotherapy. His work focuses on nervous-system education, performance routines, and practical tools for handling pressure. If you’re dealing with significant anxiety, trauma, depression, or other mental-health concerns, coaching can complement—but not replace—care from a qualified mental health professional.
Do I need to be an athlete or performer?
No. Many clients are athletes or performers, but others are founders, leaders, professionals, or people who face high-pressure situations at work or in life—pitches, negotiations, courtrooms, crucial conversations, teaching, or creative performance. If pressure moments matter to you and you’re noticing your system struggling, this work is relevant.
What if my pressure issues are tied to past trauma or very intense experiences?
Past experiences—injury, harsh coaching, public failure, bullying, medical trauma, or other events—often shape how your nervous system responds to pressure. Brandon’s work is trauma-aware and nervous-system–informed, but it is not trauma therapy. In many cases, the best setup is therapy for deep processing plus coaching for performance and regulation skills. If something is outside the scope of coaching, Brandon will say so.
Can you help if I “choke” or freeze in competition, on stage, or in big meetings?
Yes—that’s a core part of this area. Rather than labeling you as “weak,” Brandon will help you understand your freeze, fight, or flight patterns and train your system with graded exposure, nervous-system drills, and pre-/post-performance routines so those responses soften over time.
How long does it take to see changes?
It depends on how ingrained your patterns are, how often you’re in pressure situations, and what else is going on (fatigue, pain, life stress). Some people notice useful shifts within a few key events after three to six sessions. Others work with Brandon across a 100-day window or a season to more fully rewire how they relate to pressure. You’ll discuss a realistic timeline after your first session.
Can you coordinate with my coach, trainer, or therapist?
Yes, with your permission. Brandon is happy to collaborate with other professionals in your corner so that what you’re doing physically, mentally, and emotionally lines up instead of pulling in different directions.
Are sessions remote or in-person?
Sessions are primarily held online via secure video, so you can join from wherever you live and train. If you’re local and interested in in-person work (movement prep, warm-up design, etc.), you can mention that in your intake form and Brandon will let you know what’s currently available.
Big moments don’t have to break you.
Pressure will always be part of the arenas that matter—sport, work, art, leadership, life. The goal isn’t to make you immune to nerves; it’s to teach your system how to stay online when the stakes rise.
You don’t have to keep dreading high-pressure situations, wondering which version of you will show up, or replaying every stumble for days. If you’re ready to train resilience and performance from the inside out—not just stack more hype on top—Brandon is here to help.