Lately, I have been thinking about how the approval of others causes so much anxiety in our inner dialogue. I am up for the second part of my comprehensive exam for my Doctorate. My thoughts on the fear of what could So wrong helped me miss my first appointment. It reminded me that some of the most liked and polished people I know don't voice or display any worries about not performing to par.
When the Bible talks about planning, it talks about not worrying what will happen or even what to say. This may be tied to neuroscience with respect to how fear cuts off the frontal cortex and stops the planning and decision-making part of the brain.
Cultivating faith should do more for performance than planning. Many times in planning we consider the worst Case scenarios. In prayer, we express our hopes and faith qlong with our fears. Also, placing the determinant of our successes and failure outside of ourselves takes away some of the pressure to perform. In reality, there are too many determinants outside of our control to realistically put that responsibility on ourselves, not to mention, bad for performance.
