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How To Perform Under Pressure—With Both Peace and Confidence | Jim Murphy

Oct 22, 2025 1h 20m 17 insights
<p dir="ltr">A performance coach and bestselling author shares practical tools for thriving in crisis, shaving down the ego, and designing the life you want.</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">#1 New York Times bestselling author <a href="https://innerexcellence.com/">Jim Murphy</a> is a Performance Coach to some of the best athletes and leaders in the world. In addition to coaching professional athletes and executives, Murphy is the president of the <a href="https://innerexcellencefreedomproject.org/about/">Inner Excellence Freedom Project</a> whose mission is to build communities to alleviate spiritual and physical poverty around the world.</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">In this episode we talk about:</p> <ul> <li dir="ltr">A counterintuitive secret to performing under pressure</li> <li dir="ltr">How to "relanguage" the story you tell about yourself</li> <li dir="ltr">A crucial life question that everyone should be asking themselves</li> <li dir="ltr">Practical tools for "inner excellence"</li> <li dir="ltr">Jim's Four Daily Goals</li> <li dir="ltr">Cultivating non-attachment to results </li> <li dir="ltr">How to be less afraid of fear</li> <li dir="ltr">The "expect nothing" rule </li> <li dir="ltr">And the role of faith in his life</li> </ul> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Join Dan's online community <a href="http://www.danharris.com/">here</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow Dan on social: <a href="https://bit.ly/3tGigG5">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://bit.ly/3FOA84J">TikTok</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Subscribe to our <a href="https://bit.ly/3FybRzD">YouTube Channel</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Get ready for another Meditation Party at Omega Institute! This in-person workshop brings together Dan with his friends and meditation teachers, Sebene Selassie, Jeff Warren, and for the first time, Ofosu Jones-Quartey. The event runs October 24th-26th. Sign up and learn more <a href="http://eomega.org/workshops/meditation-party-2025">here</a>!</p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr">Tickets are now on sale for a special live taping of the 10% Happier Podcast with guest Pete Holmes! Join us on November 18th in NYC for this benefit show, with all proceeds supporting the New York Insight Meditation Center. Grab your tickets <a href="https://www.nyimc.org/event/great-cosmic-joke/">here</a>!</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit <a href="https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris">https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris</a></p> <p> </p> <p>Thanks to our
Actionable Insights

1. Define Desired Life Feelings

Ask yourself how you truly want to feel in your life, using your best moments as a guide (often involving love and connection). This foundational question helps design habits of thought and action to cultivate those feelings more often.

2. Design Life for Desired Feelings

Once you’ve identified how you want to feel, design your life and daily actions around cultivating those feelings. This involves understanding what adds to or takes away from those feelings and optimizing for more of the good.

3. Practice Non-Attachment to Outcomes

Avoid becoming overly attached to specific visions of how your life or outcomes should be, as this vision may be incorrect and leads to an “inner clench” that hinders responding well to reality. Instead, hold goals loosely, recognizing that what you perceive as “best” might not be.

4. Relanguage Negative Self-Talk

Avoid using present tense labels for negative conditions (e.g., “my anxiety”) and instead refer to them in the past tense (e.g., “the anxiety I’ve had in the past”). This helps the subconscious break identification with unwanted states and prevents them from continuing.

5. Relanguage Your Personal History

Be willing to let go of old stories about yourself and your past that limit your potential. Relanguage your personal history to create new possibilities and expand what you believe is achievable.

6. Implement Four Daily Goals

Adopt four daily goals: 1) Give the best of what you have, acknowledging some days are less productive. 2) Be fully present, engaging heart, mind, and body without fear. 3) Practice gratitude, as it links to inner peace and strength. 4) Focus on your routines and only what you can control.

7. Daily Self-Assess Four Goals

At the end of each day, grade yourself on a scale of one to five for each of the four daily goals (giving your best, being present, gratitude, focusing on routines). This self-assessment helps track progress and identify areas for learning and growth.

8. Be Willing to Face Any Feeling

Develop the courage to face any feeling, especially uncomfortable ones, as this willingness opens up possibilities and diminishes fear. This means not running from discomfort but sitting in it, recognizing it as a teacher and an edge of growth.

9. Seek Discomfort as Teacher

Actively seek out feelings of discomfort or those you typically avoid, as these represent the edge of your beliefs and potential for growth. Sitting in this discomfort can diminish fear and expand possibilities.

10. Cultivate Joy Through Love

To experience a deep sense of joy—defined as well-being, freedom, and gratitude independent of circumstances—cultivate a life of sacrificial love. This involves having strict boundaries while giving what is most loving, prioritizing the group, and acting fearlessly.

11. Compete for Collective Excellence

Adopt an “inner excellence mindset” where your ambition and competition are framed not for personal aggrandizement, but to raise your own level of excellence (learning, growing in love, wisdom, courage) with the ultimate goal of raising it in others. This service-oriented approach leads to a more fearless and fulfilling life.

12. Practice “Expect Nothing” Tool

Before performing or competing, use the “Expect Nothing” tool: take a long, slow, deep breath in while saying “I expect,” hold it, then exhale while saying “nothing.” This practice helps detach from specific outcomes, fostering a mindset of having no needs and being able to handle anything that arises.

13. Observe Emotions, Don’t Identify

Practice using phrases like “there is anger” or “there is sadness” instead of “I am angry” to create distance from emotions. This helps you not identify with negative states, making them more workable and less innate.

14. Daily Prayerful Meditation

Dedicate 10-20 minutes daily to a prayerful meditation, using a timer and specific music to connect with your purpose and a sense of being loved and delighted in. This practice helps program your mind with self-worth, reducing the need to seek validation from external “palms” (possessions, achievements, looks, money, status).

15. Pre-Plan Your First Hour

Pre-plan the first hour of your day to avoid decision fatigue and align with your purpose. This includes having specific music, hydration, exercise, and meditation routines.

16. Use Music for Purpose Alignment

Curate a specific playlist of music that connects you to your purpose and desired feelings, playing it consistently (e.g., the same playlist in the same order) during your morning routine. This helps align your mind and program it with empowering messages.

17. Rewire Your Inner Critic

Engage in practices like guided meditation to rewire your inner dialogue, as this is a key part of peak performance and can help manage self-criticism.