All eyes are on you and it’s the moment of truth. Suddenly your hands are slick with sweat, your breathing turns shallow and you see the world through a narrow corridor. Your fingers are stiff and numb, your legs feel like cinder blocks and your limbs are as rigid as steel beams. All thoughts come to an abrupt halt. With a quick jerk, you squeeze your trigger tightly. The hammer drops and and you’re rocked onto your heels by recoil. As you blankly stare downrange, it’s apparent – you just pulled what could a have a precisely placed shot completely off the paper target.

As you holster your weapon and turn toward your buddies, your hearing slowly returns just in time to process their laughter and ridicule. Anxiety is a son of b—-. And when a life depends on your ability to accurately land a small piece of lead, anxiety can be a killer.

Thin air. Anyone that carries a gun for a living is familiar with how their weapon works, how it feels in their hands and how to operate it efficiently. However, when the time comes to use it in the wild, it’s common for an operator to fall prey to the effects of stress.

When stimulated by sudden stress or fear, the human brain becomes primal and the parasympathetic nervous system takes over. The brain quickly identifies a threat and automatically prepares the body for response by shunting blood away from major muscle groups and extremities. This control feature helps to mitigate blood loss in case we’re wounded, but it also results in diminished fine motor skills. Our hands stop working as we enter fight or flight mode. Tunnel vision sets in and our awareness is narrowed to the most obvious and immediate opponent. Additional threats are often overlooked and hearing is essentially turned off. After a gun battle, many soldiers and cops report they never heard their weapon discharge. It’s during times like this that we typically depend on muscle memory created by our repetitive training, but there’s more we can do to fight well and win.

Stress comes in all shapes and sizes. Developing a common solution to counteract any stressor will benefit us when faced with a deadly situation because our solution will become an automatic response. Luckily, the best method to reduce stress is also the simplest… breathe. When we breathe deeply we more richly oxygenate our blood. More oxygen means better brain function. Much like the Matrix, situations slow down and we’re able to see the details. While we may not be able to dodge a bullet like Neo, we can more quickly assess a situation, identify our enemies, recognize additional threats and provide for the safety of innocents. Controlled breathing also leads to reduced anxiety, relaxation and improved fine motor operation allowing better weapon manipulation. Breathing deeply and evenly improves marksmanship by creating predictable muzzle rise and fall. The most accurate shots are taken during a slow, controlled exhalation. In the event we’re shot, stabbed or otherwise wounded, controlled breathing will slow our heart rate, reduce bleed out, defend against shock and improve our ability to self treat.

Believe it. If lining up for a practice shoot makes you nervous it’s because you’re not confident in your ability to perform. Again, the solution is simple – practice. With competence comes confidence. Once you’ve mastered your technique and your performance has peaked, take it to the next level and practice under stress. Get your heat rate up by sprinting to the firing line. Have a friend yell at you and talk trash about your mom. Find a facility with moving targets and, all the while, remember to control your breathing.

Once you’ve got a handle on stress and you’re confident in your ability to perform, play the “what if” game regularly. Think your way through dangerous scenarios, develop protocols for specific events, visualize being injured and contemplate your actions. Most importantly, envision yourself victorious in every encounter so that when it actually happens, you will be.

Breathe, train, win.