You’ve probably noticed them—the people who seem to thrive when everything’s on fire. While everyone else is melting down about the deadline, they’re calmly working through their checklist. They don’t look stressed, but they’re not checked out either. They’re just… handling it.
I spent years training these types, and here’s what threw me: many weren’t naturally calm. Most of them ran on anxiety and caffeine like everyone else. The difference was they’d developed specific behaviors that kicked in when pressure mounted. They’d learned to channel that nervous energy into productive action instead of letting it scatter their focus.
After watching hundreds of high performers navigate crunch time, I started seeing patterns. The ones who consistently delivered under pressure weren’t necessarily smarter or more talented. They just did things differently when stakes were high.
Psychology research backs this up. Pressure performers aren’t born—they’re made through specific habits and mental frameworks.
Here are the five behaviors that separate those who excel under pressure from those who crumble.
1. They set long-term goals that actually matter to them
Most people set goals based on what sounds impressive or what they think they should want. Pressure performers are different. They pick targets that genuinely matter to them, even if those targets seem less flashy.
I worked with a software developer who turned down a management promotion three times. Everyone thought he was crazy. But he knew exactly what he wanted: to become the go-to expert for a specific type of security architecture. That clarity meant when urgent projects landed on his desk, he knew exactly which ones deserved his A-game and which ones just needed to be done.
In psychologist Dr. Angela Duckworth’s research, grit emerged as a more significant predictor of success than social intelligence, physical health, or even IQ. She describes grit as “passion and perseverance for very long-term goals” and “living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
This long-term focus acts like a filter. When you’re clear on what you’re building toward, today’s crisis becomes just another obstacle to work through, not a reason to panic. You stop treating every urgent request like it’s life or death because you know what actually moves the needle for you.
The people who handle pressure best aren’t trying to impress everyone. They’re playing their own game, which means they can stay focused when everyone else is scrambling.
2. They have a growth mindset
Here’s what I noticed about chronic underperformers: they treated every high-pressure situation like a test they could fail. The top performers? They saw it as practice.
One sales rep I trained had a brutal quarter—lost three major deals in a row. Instead of spiraling, she dissected each loss like a coach reviewing game tape. What objections caught her off guard? Where did the conversation shift? By the next quarter, she was closing deals at twice her previous rate.
As Stanford psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck explains, “In a growth mindset, challenges are exciting rather than threatening. So rather than thinking, oh, I’m going to reveal my weaknesses, you say, wow, here’s a chance to grow.”
This shift changes everything about how you handle pressure. When you believe abilities are fixed, every challenge becomes a verdict on your worth. But when you see skills as developable, pressure becomes information. A blown presentation teaches you what to practice. A missed deadline shows you where your systems break down.
The growth mindset also kills perfectionism—one of the biggest pressure amplifiers. If you’re always learning, there’s no such thing as a perfect performance, just better or worse attempts. This removes the paralysis that comes from needing to nail it every time.
3. They realize the value of delayed gratification
The people who excel under pressure have trained themselves to think beyond the immediate discomfort. They’ll spend Friday night preparing instead of relaxing because they know Monday will be smoother. They’ll have the awkward conversation now instead of letting it fester into a crisis later.
And this sort of delayed gratification has massive benefits. The famous Stanford Marshmallow Experiment found that children who could delay gratification ended up with higher SAT scores, lower substance abuse rates, and better outcomes across a range of life measures.
This shows up in small ways during crunch time. While others are reaching for quick fixes—pulling all-nighters, skipping meals, mainlining energy drinks—pressure performers stick to their routines. They still take their lunch break. They still shut down at a reasonable hour. They know that burning out today means performing worse tomorrow.
I learned this the hard way. Early in my training career, I’d work until exhaustion during busy periods, thinking I was being dedicated. But my work quality tanked, and I’d need days to recover. Now I keep minimum standards even on crazy days: at least one real meal, at least seven hours of sleep, at least 20 minutes of movement. These non-negotiables actually create more productive hours, not fewer.
4. They treat discipline as freedom, not restriction
Every high performer I’ve worked with has systems that look rigid from the outside but feel liberating from the inside. They’ve eliminated decision fatigue in advance, so when pressure hits, they’re not wasting mental energy on basics.
As author, podcaster, and retired Navy officer Jocko Willink puts it: “Discipline equals freedom.” (Ref 11) This is echoed by motivational speaker and author Jim Rohn, who noted that “Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.”
I use friction rules when pressure mounts: phone in another room, all tabs closed except what I’m working on, timer running for focused blocks. These constraints look restrictive, but they free me from the constant temptation to escape into distractions when work gets hard.
The discipline also extends to saying no. Pressure performers are ruthless about protecting their focus. They’ll decline meetings, delegate aggressively, and disappoint people if it means preserving energy for what matters. Their discipline gives them permission to be selective.
5. They focus on what they can control
This might be the biggest separator.
When pressure builds, most people waste energy on things outside their control—the deadline that’s too tight, the client who’s being unreasonable, the team member who dropped the ball. Pressure performers quickly sort situations into two buckets: what they can influence and what they can’t. Then they ignore the second bucket.
The power of this is backed up by numerous experts like psychotherapist Sharon Martin, DSW, LCSW who noted in a Psychology Today post that “Accepting what we can’t control helps us navigate life’s challenges.”
I saw this constantly with teams facing impossible deadlines. The ones who crashed spent hours complaining about the timeline. The ones who delivered asked: Given this constraint, what’s the best outcome we can create? Then they got to work.
This focus on control extends to their emotional state. They don’t wait to feel motivated or inspired. They know those feelings are unreliable under pressure. Instead, they control their actions and let their feelings catch up. Start the work, and momentum follows. Take the first step, and clarity emerges.
Bottom line
People who thrive under pressure aren’t a different species. They’ve just developed behaviors that channel stress into performance instead of panic.
They set meaningful long-term goals that guide their decisions. They treat challenges as data, not verdicts. They delay gratification to avoid bigger problems later. They use discipline to create freedom. And they focus ruthlessly on what they can actually control.
None of these behaviors are fully natural; they’re all learned to an extent, which means if you’re someone who currently struggles when stakes rise, you’re not stuck there.
Pick one behavior and run a two-week experiment. Set a meaningful three-month goal and use it to filter decisions. Or implement one friction rule to protect your focus. Or spend five minutes each morning identifying what you can and can’t control that day.
Pressure isn’t going away. If anything, the pace of modern work means it’s increasing. But you can develop the behaviors that transform pressure from an enemy into a tool. The question isn’t whether you’re naturally good under pressure. The question is whether you’re willing to build the habits that make pressure work for you.
