Rachel Swirsky Quotes

I don't know, I think, in times where I'm really nervous, and I'm really under the pressure the worst possible outcome is for me to start thinking about it. I just do.

My biggest enemy for the longest time was my head. When I first became successful, it made me anxious because I was overthinking everything, and you hear so many 'fail' stories.

I get so nervous on stage I can't help but talk. I try. I try telling my brain: stop sending words to the mouth. But I get nervous and turn into my grandma. Behind the eyes it's pure fear. I find it difficult to believe I'm going to be able to deliver.

Every time I start a new piece of work, I spend a long while under the duvet thinking I can't do it.

I often obsess so much about things that I can't get done, that I ruin other things.

I still have nightmares about taking tests.

Our minds are not our friends when they realize we have work to do - they're our enemies.

I get nervous even guesting on other people's shows.

I fear if I cannot think again, if my mind suddenly goes blank. It will be embarrassing.

I get stage fright and gremlins in my head saying: 'You're going to forget your lines'.

Needing to have things perfect is the surest way to immobilize yourself with frustration.

I find I have to touch what I am working on every day, or a deep-seated dread kicks in that is very hard to overcome.

I used to second guess myself all the time. I can sit there and work in circles when I'm nervous about what I'm doing.

Some people thrive under pressure, but pressure can also ruin your performance, it can push you down angles which you don't want to go.

I'm totally an anxious mess all the time. There's a constant dialogue going on in my brain, and it's just reminding me of all the failures that I have had, and all of the things I need to do, and all of the things I'm not doing good enough.

I'm a 24-hour tweet machine, I'm a 24-hour blogger. When there's no pressure on me, I can talk and write and lecture with the best of them. But put a deadline on me and I start getting writer's block.

Pressure is an emotional paralysis. It's hard enough to do the dishes when you're feeling pressured, let alone make a movie.

There is no such thing as a long piece of work, except one that you dare not start.

I criticise myself an awful lot. I do worry to the point that I don't think it's very healthy. I'm always picking my flaws. It's a terrible anxiety I have. I wish I could pretend nothing fazes me, but it does.

I honestly think I'm the kind of person that is driven by fear of failure rather than striving for success. I tend to go to bed scared and wake up terrified.

It was in San Diego and I was onstage and couldn't remember how to play the guitar properly. I was in terrible pain and my nervous system was just going wild, like somebody had just run a car over me.

Practically everybody knows what it's like to feel anxious, worried, nervous, afraid, uptight, or panicky. Often, anxiety is just a nuisance, but sometimes it can cripple you and prevent you from doing what you really want with your life. But I have some great news for you: You can change the way you feel.

What I wasn't prepared for were the feelings of anxiety that it stirred in me. I wasn't prepared for the initial feeling of I don't want to have to do that again. I was scared.

Lack of confidence - every time I start a new piece of work, it seems I have to spend a long while under the duvet thinking I can't do it.

For the first six or eight months at Juilliard I felt paralysed. I didn't know what I was doing.