A CEO recently asked me to coach him. “I’m not a coach,” I said, “I’m a performance psychologist. A coach will offer you advice and strategies. I will train you to thrive in any high-pressure situation.”

I work with CEOs, particularly visionary founders: men and women with game-changing dreams to create products or services that benefit humanity.

Big dreams bring big battles: persuading investors, keeping teams steady under pressure, adapting fast as markets shift, facing risk and uncertainty head-on, and sustaining the resilience to weather the punishing ups and downs that test every leader.

Performance psychology offers a robust, scientific foundation for developing leaders who thrive.

One founder described pitching to investors as “harder than the Olympics.” When nerves took over, his voice shook and his message lost impact. “Pitching is so stressful,” he sighed.

Founders often believe their challenges cause stress. But challenges aren’t stressful; they’re stress-provoking. “Pitching,” I told him, “is just a task. It’s your reaction to it that creates stress.”

Ancient Indian scriptures, the Vedas, teach that the root of stress is wanting things to be different. We either like something and want more of it (Rāga), or dislike it and want it to stop (Dveṣa). Instead of accepting life as it is, we struggle with reality.

A fundamental principle of performance psychology is that stress results from how you respond to........

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