I am looking for some mental exercises to help me do better with job interviews and talking to women.
When I think that something is important, I get excited, appear nervous, feel adrenaline rush, etc. My mind speeds up, and calculates efficiently. I feel strong. The more pressure there is, the better I will perform on any academic test. Often during an important exam, my subconsciousness performs the mathematical calculations or problem solving algorithms while my conscious mind focuses on staying focused and keeping track of time. I also perform better under pressure in physical/athletic challenges.
I know some perform poorly in physical or academic tests due to pressure, but this seems unnatural to me (what is the evolutionary advantage?).
Last year I had my first important interview, and I was surprised when I performed poorly. It seems that pressure and nervousness decrease my interview performance. I cannot understand why my body does not react properly in this situation.
I have found that talking to pretty women is equivalent to a job interview in that nervousness only decreases my performance.
For an exam or an athletic event, I try to get as excited as possible as any extra mental energy is beneficial. Clearly excitement is not helping me in these other situations, yet I have also found apathy to be suboptimal for interviews/impressing women.
I know that part of my problem is with nonverbal communication and tone of voice, neither of which I have a great understanding of or conscious control over.
Can someone recommend mental exercises which will help me perform better in such situations? Also, can someone explain why pressure decreases my performance? Is this normal?