How To Reframe Nervousness In Real Time | Simon Sinek and Dr. Ellen Langer | A Bit of Optimism

9 Jun 2026 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:36

In this interview, Simon Sinek and Dr. Ellen Langer discuss how the same physiological signals that accompany nervousness—racing heart, clammy hands, future‑focused thoughts—can be reinterpreted as excitement. They illustrate the point with Olympic athletes who, when asked if they are nervous, answer that they are excited, showing that elite performers have learned to label these sensations positively. Langer shares a personal experiment: during severe airplane turbulence she whispered to herself that the experience was "exciting," which instantly calmed her. The conversation expands to everyday situations, noting that emotions are biochemically similar and that the label we assign (anxiety vs. excitement) influences posture, behavior, and outcomes, such as the likelihood of a successful first date. The core message is that emotions are choices; by consciously reframing nervous energy as excitement, we can alter our responses and improve performance.

Chapters

I was watching the Olympics and I noticed that the journalists were all asking the athletes the same question. Were you nervous? And all the athletes gave the same answer. No, I'm excited. If you think about what the characteristics of nervousness are, like your heart starts pounding, your hands get clammy, you start envisioning the future. But if you think about what excitement is, your heart starts pounding, your hands get clammy, you start envisioning the future. And the reason the journalists were asking, are you nervous? It's because they would be nervous because they're not elite athletes. And all the elite athletes had learned to interpret this data not as nerves, but as excitement, which is one of the reasons they're Olympians in the first place. I was so interested by the simple mind shift interpretation that I decided to test it out. I was on a plane and the plane hit very severe turbulence.. And I literally said under my breath out loud to myself, this is exciting. And instantly I was fine.
Yeah, that's great. You know, it turns out all emotions are biochemically similar. So let's say you're going out on a first date and you see yourself as anxious versus you see yourself as excited. You posture yourself in very different ways and chances are you're more likely to have the second date if you saw yourself as excited. And so what people don't understand is that emotions are choices. This is good. It's biochemically similar. Then you can call it by one of several different things, and what you call it will determine basically how you respond and subsequent feelings about it.