How To Coach Yourself While Staying Calm And Focused

I have played competitive soccer for over half of my life. Pressure is not new to me. I have felt it in games, in tryouts, in tournaments, and in moments where you can hear your heartbeat louder than the crowd. Soccer taught me something I use everywhere now, staying calm is not a personality trait, it is a skill you train.

SeaPerch feels different, but the pressure is the same. There is a clock. There is a course. There are teammates depending on you. There is that one moment where panic starts creeping in, and you can feel it trying to take over.

Panic makes people rush. Panic makes people forget the plan. Panic makes people react instead of think. Panic stops everything and basically guarantees mistakes.

Calm keeps things moving forward.

The First Thing I Do When I Feel Panic

I pause.

Not a dramatic pause. A real one. I stop for a second and take control of my breathing, because when your breathing gets fast and shallow, your brain starts acting like everything is an emergency.

I use a simple breath that works anywhere, on the field, at practice, before a run, in a hard conversation, in real life.

1. Breathe in for four counts.

2. Hold for four counts.

3. Breathe out for four counts.

4. Hold for four counts.

5. Repeat it one more time.

If four feels too long in the moment, do three. The goal is not perfection. The goal is to slow your body down so your brain can work again.

Why This Works

When you slow your breathing, you tell your nervous system you are safe. That is when you get your focus back.

You do not have to feel calm to act calm. You can do the calm actions first, and your mind will follow.

What I Tell Myself When The Pressure Hits

I do not wait until I feel confident. I coach myself into confidence.

This is what I tell myself when my brain starts getting loud:

I have practiced for this.

I know what to do.

One step at a time.

Calm is my advantage.

That last line matters. In soccer, the calm player sees the field better and makes smarter decisions. In SeaPerch, the calm team drives cleaner, communicates better, and recovers faster when something goes wrong.

Blocking Out The Eyes On You

Soccer also taught me how to block out the feeling of everyone watching. That feeling can mess with your head if you let it. The trick is to stop performing for the crowd and start focusing on your job.

When pressure hits, I shrink my world down to what I can control:

My breath.

My next move.

My communication.

My effort.

I do not need to impress anyone in that moment. I need to execute.

That same skill helped me in sports modeling too. Modeling looks glamorous from the outside, but it still comes with pressure. Lights, cameras, people watching, expectations. Soccer taught me how to stay composed, listen, adjust, and keep going without letting nerves take the wheel.

That pathway matters to me, because it reminds me something important. Confidence is portable. You can build it in one area, then bring it into another.

Staying Calm Keeps Your Team Moving

Competitive sports taught me that emotions spread fast. If one person panics, it becomes everyone’s problem. If one person stays steady, it pulls the whole group back.

In SeaPerch, that is everything. The Pilot and Co-Pilot have to trust each other. The team has to stay focused. The run has to stay clean.

Being calm does not mean you do not care. Being calm means you care enough to stay in control.

The Calm Bubble

This is one of my favorite ways to think about it. A good Co-Pilot, or any calm teammate, can create a calm bubble around the people doing the hardest job in that moment.

Inside the bubble, there is only the plan, the next move, and a steady voice.Outside the bubble, there might be noise, timers, judges, and pressure.

The goal is to keep the team inside the bubble as long as possible.

A calm voice keeps the mission clear. Calm callouts keep the run clean. Calm decisions keep mistakes from multiplying.

The Reset That Saves Runs

When something goes wrong, it is easy to spiral. The ROV bumps something. The tether pulls. The timing feels off. People start talking faster.

That is the moment to reset.

I do three things:

1. I say one calm word, “Hold.”

2. I take one controlled breath.

3. I give one clear next step.

Hold.

Breathe.

Next move.

That simple reset stops the panic chain reaction.

The Advice I Hang My Hat On

Fast does not matter if you cannot repeat it. If a run only worked because you bumped into everything and got lucky, that is not a plan, and luck runs out on competition day. Clean, consistent runs build confidence, and confidence is what makes speed possible.

When you are calm, you do not waste time fixing mistakes. Clean is faster than frantic.

What Soccer Taught Me That Works Everywhere

Soccer taught me that you do not rise to the occasion, you fall back on what you trained.

You do not magically become calm under pressure. You practice calm until it becomes automatic.

That is true in SeaPerch. That is true in sports. That is true in life.

Hard moments come for everyone. The difference is how you respond.

A Pep Talk I Repeat When I Need It

If you panic under pressure sometimes, you are not weak. You are human. The goal is not to never feel pressure. The goal is to have a plan for what to do when pressure shows up.

Pause.

Breathe.

Reset.

Speak clearly.

Move with purpose.

You do not need perfect runs. You need steady progress. You need to trust your practice. Calm is a skill you can build.

You can do hard things. You can stay steady. You can lead your team forward.

That is what real leadership looks like.