The Obnoxious Neighbour: Dr. David Fish on Why You Can't Keep Anxiety Out — And Why You Shouldn't Try

Seventy-five percent of people experience performance anxiety. That includes Horowitz — reputedly the world's greatest pianist — whose wife had to physically push him onto the Carnegie Hall stage. It includes Shohei Ohtani, who led the Dodgers to the World Series and then admitted how nervous he was for a homecoming exhibition game in Tokyo. And it almost certainly includes you. Dr. David Lee Fish holds a PhD and has spent decades helping professionals who are brilliant at what they do but freeze the moment they have to perform in front of others — whether that's a stage, a boardroom, a job interview, or a sales conversation. His approach has an unlikely origin. He developed it independently through Zen practice, then discovered that he had studied under the same Korean master as Jon Kabat-Zinn — the therapist who brought mindfulness into mainstream medicine. They arrived at the same place independently. In this episode we explore: Why performance anxiety has nothing to do with confidence — and why more practice won't fix it The three conditions that trigger speech fright every time Why your sympathetic nervous system is an ancient bodyguard doing its job — and why fighting it makes everything worse The READ method: Remember, Engage, Accept, Detach — and why detachment is something that happens, not something you do Why the exhale — not the inhale — is the signal that tells your body the threat is over How the obnoxious neighbour at your party is the perfect analogy for anxiety you stop fighting Plus — the moment Yamara Sensei, a Zen tea ceremony master, admitted his deepest aspiration: just once, to perform the ceremony without a single intrusive thought. Connect with David: Website: riseupeight.com Free introductory lesson available — David almost requires it before anyone enrolls.