Jerry Seinfeld is a pretty productive guy, but he’s also a that’s had to deal with immense amounts of pressure. This mental trick can help you alter your perspective and calm your nerves during high-stress moments.
In filmmaker Judd Apatow’s recent book, Sick in the Head, Seinfeld revealed a quirky method for calming his nerves in the Seinfeld TV show writer’s room: he would look at space photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope to remind him how insignificant everything can be perceived. Seinfeld explains:
That would calm me when I would start to think that this was important... I’ve often said this and people say, ‘It makes me feel insignificant.’ And I don’t find being insignificant depressing. I find it uplifting.
Whether you look at pictures of space, or read about bigger world issues, taking a moment to feel insignificant can be very freeing. Suddenly that seemingly life or death decision you have to make isn’t that big of a deal. Or that huge, career-ending risk you’re taking merely becomes your best step forward. Obviously, you don’t want to get lost in feeling insignificant, but a good change of perspective always helps you see things in a different light.
Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy | Amazon via Business Insider
Photo by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.