Vishen LakhianiFounder of Mindvalley | NYT Bestselling Author | Transforming Lives Globally

Nervousness and excitement are the exact same feeling

26 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief motivational talk, the speaker argues that nervousness and excitement are physiologically identical emotions, differing only in the mental expectation attached to them. He explains that when we label the feeling as "nervousness," we anticipate a negative outcome, whereas labeling it as "excitement" aligns with a positive expectation. The speaker warns against verbally affirming nervousness, as it reinforces the negative mindset and can undermine audience feedback. He advises listeners to consciously reframe the feeling as excitement and to avoid announcing nervousness, thereby influencing performance and perception positively.

Chapters

Have you ever been nervous at the beginning of a presentation or before it even started? I want you to think about something. Nervousness and excitement are exactly the same emotion. They really are. If you look at them physically, you have the same feeling in your stomach, the sweaty palms, the nervousness, the vibration. It's the same emotion, nervousness and excitement. The challenge is, is that when we call it nervousness, we change the outcome of everything. And here's the only difference between nervousness and excitement. Nervousness is excitement with a negative expectation. That means somebody thinking of going on stage and imagining it going badly. Now they're nervous. Somebody else imagining going on stage and imagining it going well, they're excited. One way that you can change this is with the word. Don't tell people you're nervous. If you tell them you're nervous, it's like an affirmation. I'm nervous, I'm nervous, I'm nervous. And then you are nervous. But here's another problem. If you tell the audience you're nervous, maybe to get a little extra sympathy from them, when they come and tell you later how good it was, you won't believe them. Go out there, be excited, make it happen.