Arousal Reappraisal: "I’m Excited, Not Anxious"

Reinterpret physiological arousal as excitement rather than anxiety — they share the same physiology.

Why it works

Anxiety and excitement are physiologically nearly identical: both involve elevated heart rate, heightened alertness, and elevated cortisol. The difference is appraisal — anxiety tags the arousal as threatening and future-bad; excitement tags it as opportunity and future-good. Because the arousal itself is already present and cannot be quickly reduced, reappraisal works by changing the label rather than the physiology — which is metabolically far less costly than trying to calm down completely. The reappraisal moves the person from a threat orientation (shrinking) to an opportunity orientation (approaching), which is associated with better performance.

How to do it

1. When you notice pre-performance anxiety, acknowledge the arousal without trying to suppress it.
2. Say to yourself (or aloud): "I am excited" — simple, direct, present-tense.
3. Redirect attention toward the opportunity the performance represents rather than the threat it poses.
4. Do not tell yourself "calm down" — this fights the arousal state and rarely works. Use excitement reappraisal instead.
5. Practice the reappraisal before low-stakes performances to build the habit before high-stakes events.

Evidence

Harvard researcher Alison Wood Brooks found that saying "I am excited" before anxiety-inducing tasks improved performance on singing, math, and public speaking tasks compared to "I am calm." The mechanism — redirecting approach vs. avoidance motivation — has additional theoretical support. Jamieson, Nock & Mendes (2012) show the mechanism at the physiological level: instructing people to reappraise stress arousal as functional produced a more adaptive cardiovascular profile and better attentional performance under stress. (rct)

Brooks’ findings have been replicated but are also contested in some replication attempts; effects are real but may be smaller and more context-dependent than originally reported.

Sources

• Brooks (2014), "Get excited: reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement", Journal of Experimental Psychology: General — directly tested this technique
• Brooks, A. W. (2014). Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(3), 1144–1158.
• Jamieson, J. P., Nock, M. K., & Mendes, W. B. (2012). Mind over matter: Reappraising arousal improves cardiovascular and cognitive responses to stress. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(3), 417–422.

Common mistake

Using reappraisal as spiritual bypass — saying "I’m excited" while internally still treating the event as a catastrophe. The reappraisal needs to genuinely redirect attention toward the opportunity, not just be a verbal label.