There is a particular kind of collapse that high performers know all too well. It does not build gradually. It happens instantly. One missed shot. One awkward answer. One visible error. In that moment, confidence can feel as though it has vanished.
Dr. Klara Gubacs Collins explains that confidence rarely disappears. What disappears is access. The performer still possesses the skill, preparation, and experience that earned them the opportunity. However, a single mistake can activate an emotional reaction strong enough to override those assets.
When that reaction is not understood, it begins to dictate what happens next.
The Emotional Spike That Changes Everything
A mistake is rarely just a mistake for someone who ties performance to identity. For many elite athletes and leaders, success has long been associated with approval, recognition, and belonging. Over time, this association becomes automatic. Achievement confirms worth. Failure threatens it.
When a mistake occurs in a high-stakes environment, it often triggers an emotional spike that exceeds the objective importance of the event. The nervous system reacts as if something essential is at risk. Heart rate increases. Muscles tighten. Internal dialogue accelerates.
Dr. Gubacs Collins emphasizes that this reaction is physiological before it is cognitive. The body shifts into protection mode. Once in this state, attention narrows. The performer begins monitoring themselves rather than focusing on execution.
Confidence appears lost, but what has actually occurred is an activation of the threat response.
The Internal Courtroom
In her work with high performers, Dr. Gubacs Collins often refers to the internal courtroom that emerges after a visible error. The mind begins building a case. Thoughts such as What if they think I cannot handle this, or I cannot afford another mistake, surface rapidly.
This internal trial drains attention from the present moment. Instead of responding to what the situation demands, the performer begins defending against anticipated judgment.
In some environments, that judgment may not be entirely imagined. Leaders, athletes, and public performers operate in spaces where evaluation is real and often immediate. However, preparing for judgment during performance rarely improves execution. It shifts attention away from the task and toward self-protection.
Performance deteriorates the moment attention shifts from execution to evaluation.
The mistake itself may last only seconds. The emotional narrative surrounding it is what prolongs its impact.
A basketball player who misses a free throw in a critical moment may step to the line again with added tension. A CEO who stumbles during a presentation may overcorrect in the following segment, speaking too quickly or overexplaining minor details.
What began as a small error becomes a larger disruption because attention has moved away from the moment itself.
Why Trying Harder Makes It Worse
A common reaction to a dip in confidence is to increase effort. Athletes attempt to concentrate more intensely. Leaders rehearse sentences in their heads before speaking. The intention is to prevent another error.
However, heightened effort layered on top of emotional activation can produce rigidity. Movements that were once automatic become mechanical. Speech that was once fluid becomes forced.
Dr. Gubacs Collins notes that elite performance relies on trained instincts operating without excessive interference. When performers attempt to micromanage their own execution, they disrupt their natural rhythm.
Perfectionism often intensifies this problem. In preparation, the pursuit of precision can be valuable. Athletes refine technique, executives rehearse strategy, and performers polish their craft. Preparation is where discipline and attention to detail belong.
But once performance begins, the task shifts. The moment no longer requires perfection. It requires expression. When performers attempt to execute perfectly rather than express what they have already prepared, they tighten control and interrupt the instincts that support elite performance.
Confidence cannot be restored through control alone. It must be restored through regulation.
The Reset Before the Next Moment
The most important skill Dr. Gubacs Collins teaches is rapid reset. Instead of ignoring the mistake or criticizing themselves for it, performers learn to recognize the emotional spike and reduce its intensity.
During practice, elite performers deliberately train this response. They learn to consciously separate their identity from mistakes and recognize that an error is an event, not a verdict on their ability. In training, this separation is a deliberate mental step.
Over time, however, the reset becomes faster and less conscious. What begins as a practiced mental adjustment gradually becomes an automatic response during performance. Recovery happens so quickly that the interruption is barely visible, and execution continues almost seamlessly.
Elite performers do not eliminate mistakes. They train their recovery until the interruption becomes almost invisible.
Dr. Gubacs Collins guides clients to revisit triggering moments in a structured way that lowers their emotional charge. By decreasing the intensity attached to the error, performers prevent it from reactivating in the next similar situation.
When the emotional charge is neutralized, attention returns to the power of the present moment.
Accessing Skill Again
Once emotional interference subsides, skill becomes accessible again. Muscle memory functions as trained. Cognitive flexibility returns. Decision-making sharpens.
High performers often describe this state as feeling like themselves again. The tension that followed the mistake fades, and attention returns to execution rather than evaluation.
Dr. Gubacs Collins underscores that this is not about denying accountability. Mistakes should be reviewed and corrected strategically. However, strategic correction must occur after emotional stabilization, not during heightened reactivity.
When performers attempt to fix technique while still emotionally activated, they often create more interference rather than less, sometimes even increasing the risk of injury.
Preparing for the Next Big Moment
Perhaps the most empowering aspect of this approach is that it prepares individuals before the next high-stakes scenario arises. Rather than hoping confidence holds, performers build confidence in their ability to reset.
This shifts the internal narrative from “What if I make another mistake” to “Even if I do, I know how to recover.”
Dr. Klara Gubacs Collins positions this recovery capacity as the true foundation of durable confidence. The goal is not perfection. It is stability under pressure.
In competitive arenas and leadership stages alike, mistakes are inevitable. What determines long-term success is not the absence of error but the speed and effectiveness of recovery. When performers learn to neutralize the emotional spike that follows a mistake, they prevent one moment from defining the rest of their performance.
Before the next big moment arrives, the most valuable preparation may not be additional rehearsal. It may be mastering the reset that keeps identity intact and allows performance to continue without visible interruption.
