In the NFC championship game this past Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings had a chance to win the game and get into the Superbowl. But instead of going to the big show, they are going home.

Why? Brett Favre choked under pressure.

In the last few minutes of the game, the score was tied. The Vikings had the ball and was moving toward a score and a ticket to the SuperBowl. Brett Favre had the ball, and the Saints defense was pressuring him. Instead of running for exta yards, or throwing it away, Brett threw the ball across his body-and was intercepted. The game went into OT with the Saints winning.

Why did Favre make such a rooking QB mistake?

He was under pressure and when we are under pressure we can make very poor decisions. Favre made a very poor decision and it cost his team the game.

This story relates to sales or leadership. When we are under pressure-under the gun to make a decision-slow down-take your time-don’t hurry-it may cost you money or the account. Pressure makes us do funny things-and it can greatly hurt our decision making capabilities.

Dr. Gregg Steinberg is a sport psychologist to many professional athletes, motivational speaker, business keynote speaker and sales training speaker. To see more about mental toughness strategies and going Full throttle in your sales, business and life, go to www.drgreggsteinberg.com and see his new book, Full Throttle on amazon.com.

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