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Why do I always get extremely nervous even though I'm doing what I love and am good at?

22 Answers
Last Updated: 03/01/2022 at 4:25pm
1 Tip to Feel Better
United States
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Stacy Overton, PhD.

Counselor

I am an enthusiastic life-long learner and also a professor of counseling. I have a passion for peoples stories and helping to guide and empower the human spirit.

Top Rated Answers
CoffeeTeaAndHonesty
April 24th, 2015 6:35pm
This may very well be a result of this notion that when doing what you love, you become very passionate about it and "messing up" becomes a potential threat to you and the effort you put into what you're doing. In other words, it is so important to you that if it is anything less than perfect, it may cause you distress.
felixthecat
November 23rd, 2015 1:44pm
I get nervous because I'm afraid to do badly even though people say I'm good at it. I don't want to embarrass myself or fail at what I love to do.
shiningDay13
March 18th, 2015 8:33pm
Some people are just generally anxious people and that nervous energy can sometimes be your brain's way of pumping you up for the task. Ask yourself: are you nervous throughout the entire task or just in the early stages of the task? If the nervousness is just early on and you forget about it halfway through, then it seems it may just be an adrenaline rush to give you a kickstart. But if you're nervous the entire time, maybe you're just lacking self-esteem and need reassurance from others that you truly are really good at doing what you love.
EmmaSupportiveListener
March 2nd, 2015 4:14am
It's difficult to say without finding out specifics about your exact situation. However I wonder if it's because you fear what people will think of you if you make a mistake?
Starfromheaven
September 29th, 2015 6:04am
We get nervous becasuse of the lack of confidence we have we just need to have faith and have some belief in ourselves things will go good for sure.
Anonymous
March 12th, 2015 4:33am
Because even though we know we are good at something, we still want everyone else to know and recognize that we are good at the thing.
IvyRainGabriel
April 23rd, 2015 12:33pm
Being nervous can be a good thing! It just means that you care about what you're doing- which you obviously do, and you're good at it too! Nervous is ok. You want it to turn out well, and you want others to see it in good light, you want to be satisfied with the end product. It just means you really care, which is- brilliant ^•^
magicalsummer152
June 17th, 2015 5:40pm
It might be becuase you love to do it and you are good at it..and you believe that something that both of these points contain shoud never go wrong...basically you are afraid you will mess up what you are good at but to resolve this what you should noe is that before doing good at something you Like to do that thing so do it youway if you go wrong that okay everyone at some point goes wrong there is nothing to worry about
Anonymous
December 29th, 2015 2:09am
Fear of failure. You think you will fail at something when you are loving it and you are good at it. So you are afraid of failing even though you love what you are doing and you are good at it
Hellelujah
January 26th, 2016 2:07am
I always get nervous doing what I love because I want to show everyone just how good at it and if I do poorly, they may think I'm 'fake'.
avanef
March 14th, 2017 2:17pm
Even when you love something and are good at it too, we tend to still have that nervous feeling about the possible outcome. You just want to wow the crowd and do your best that you can, that's all that it is.
generousRabbit93
July 31st, 2018 5:47am
maybe you get shy by showing your passionate about something you love to do, it could embarrass you in some way
considerateWillow71
April 2nd, 2018 12:35am
This nervousness comes from you caring so deeply about whatever it is that you are good at. It shows that you are invested in it and you want to do well. A certain amount of nervousness and anxiety is required in order for you to feel motivated, but too much anxiety can make it feel worse than it is. A balance is required.
Anonymous
July 12th, 2016 1:42am
That sounds like a sense of anxiety. Anxiety can happen, even if you're doing what you're good at, since it's mostly a fear or anticipation of something.
globalPoetry83
December 21st, 2015 12:52pm
You care about it so much that you're afraid you'll screw it up. You have to believe that you are wonderful and talented enough to do well in what you want. Don't let the pressure overshadow the passion!
KathyTheHealer
May 15th, 2015 9:17am
You seem like a very smart and hard working person. The reason is you are not used to doing it. the more you do it, the lesser of the feeling nervous will appear. I believe you can do everything perfectly . I wish you all best luck :)
Anonymous
May 4th, 2020 7:19pm
because you want to do it as good as you can. you are pressuring yourself to be that ideal picture of yourself, that you have in your head. it's not bad though, but don't be too hard on yourself! you can make mistakes and you can learn. be confident in yourself, don't look at others. be your true self and don't be afraid of your own self expression. I had similar situation, when I was planning to participate to one photography festival, but I said no last minute just because I didn't believe in myself. looking back, I should've risked, because now I no longer have a chance to ne a part of that. so don't miss out anything!
Anonymous
January 25th, 2016 9:21pm
Its a natural reaction to the knowledge of imperfection not everything is guaranteed to go perfectly
Anonymous
June 25th, 2018 11:25pm
Failure. You love it, you're good at it, but you don't believe in yourself or that tiny bit of doubt in the back of your head makes you think you'll fail when indeed you won't. Believe.
Mullens
March 27th, 2018 11:57am
Hope there is no grammar police this is just simple righting ..... I think most people that have anxiety choose to look for acceptance when it comes to something your good at I mean people tend to forget that just because your good at it and shine doesn't mean there's always that feeling inside knowing in the back of your head wow what happens when I do something wrong since I'm good at it will it be a big impact I've been asking myself lately is that the only reason why some people like me ? I just hope people look at me and know I'm good at something but still not good at a lot so talk and help .... Sorry everybody just thought people should look at it in a different perspective
APaletteFullofColors
August 16th, 2021 7:18pm
I think that the nervousness can stem from a possible different reasons. In your head, you might be able to logically remind yourself that you're experienced and you enjoy the things that you're doing. However, depending on the activity that you're doing, especially if it's one that is performance centered, you might possibly be nervous because there are people who are watching you. For instance, I enjoy creating art and playing the piano. I love doing these things, and I know that I've built up skill and experience throughout the years. At the same time, there's still a sense of stage fright or nervousness that I experience when people are watching me. For me at least, I don't want to mess up or let the people around me down. And I don't want to suddenly be revealed as an "imposter" who has just been faking it this whole time. I'm not saying that this is exactly why you feel extremely nervous, but I'm just posing some possible explanations.
Makarios1
March 1st, 2022 4:25pm
this is very normal and common. Our brains tend to overthink things even events that are familiar to us. for instance I consider myself a good public speaker however I realize every time I have to do a presentation I still panic and get anxiety prior to the event. However once I start to present the anxiety leaves. So try to figure out what makes you feel better prior to starting. Always remind yourself how the worst things you fear never come to pass! Pep talks you give yourself maybe very helpful as well. You got this!!! You are good at this remember!