Excitement and nervousness are very much the same feeling. It’s how you name it. Name it “excitement” and you may enjoy the experience more.
Imagine standing at the edge of a diving board, peering down at the water below. Your heart races, your palms sweat, and your mind whirls with a mix of anticipation and anxiety. In that moment, you have a choice to make. Are you nervous about taking the plunge, or are you excited about the thrill that awaits? The feeling in your gut is the same, but the way you label it can make all the difference in how you experience it.
Think of it like this: Imagine you're on a roller coaster, ascending slowly to the peak of a towering drop. As you inch higher and higher, your stomach churns with a blend of excitement and fear. If you focus solely on the fear, you might spend the entire ride gripping the safety bar, eyes squeezed shut, and miss out on the exhilaration of the wind rushing past your face and the sheer joy of the ride. But if you shift your perspective and choose to see it as excitement instead of fear, suddenly every twist and turn becomes an adventure to be embraced rather than a trial to endure.
Life is full of moments that can evoke both excitement and nervousness: job interviews, first dates, public speaking engagements, you name it. But whether you approach these situations with dread or anticipation can profoundly influence the outcome. By reframing your nervous energy as excitement, you open yourself up to the possibility of joy, growth, and adventure.
Consider the example of a tightrope walker poised high above a bustling city street. With every step across the thin wire, they teeter on the edge of danger. The spectators below hold their breath, feeling a mix of nerves and anticipation. But for the tightrope walker, each wobble is not a sign of impending disaster but rather a thrilling challenge to overcome. By focusing on the excitement of the performance rather than the fear of falling, they turn what could be a terrifying ordeal into a breathtaking display of skill and courage.
In the same way, when faced with daunting challenges or unfamiliar opportunities, you can choose to view your jitters as a sign that something exciting is on the horizon. Instead of letting fear hold you back, let excitement propel you forward. Embrace the butterflies in your stomach as a signal that you're alive, that you're pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone, and that great things await on the other side.
Think about the last time you felt nervous about trying something new. Maybe it was starting a new job, joining a club, or traveling to a foreign country. How did you label those feelings? Did you see them as obstacles to be overcome, or as signs that you were embarking on an exciting adventure? And most importantly, how did that labeling affect your experience?
* To gain more inspiration and motivation for your personal growth journey, I recommend visiting my SMART goals page, which offers a wide range of goal ideas to help you establish new aspirations and achieve greater success in life. This list was crucial in the development of my own life goals list, consisting of 100 goals that I pursued for ten years.
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
