The Fastest Way to Self-Regulate in High-Stakes Moments

When the stakes are high—partner meetings, live deal debates, critical portfolio decisions—stress shows up automatically.
That response is human. It’s also physiological.

I discovered a practical technique for high-stakes moments while recently summiting Mount Kilimanjaro. It isn’t complicated. It’s all about the breath.

Kilimanjaro is the tallest free-standing mountain in Africa. Reaching the summit requires moving through multiple climate zones—from rainforest to alpine desert and arctic conditions—while adapting to nearly 15,000 feet of elevation gain. Temperatures drop from 70 degrees to near zero.
The climb isn’t technical. No ropes. No crampons. What matters most is learning how to breathe.

Summiting ultimately came down to one thing: how I breathed.
During the eight-hour ascent to Uhuru Peak, what mattered most was my ability to keep my breathing calm as my brain went into high alert in the thinning air.

I prepped for the trip by reading Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor. The core insight is straightforward: breathing patterns directly influence how the nervous system processes stress.

Nasal breathing improves oxygen efficiency, lowers heart rate and blood pressure, and helps keep the body out of fight-or-flight. The moment you switch to mouth breathing, your body interprets increased risk. Stress hormones rise. Cognitive bandwidth narrows. You become more reactive.

At altitude, mouth breathing will leave you gasping for oxygen. You think opening your mouth is helping. In fact, it’s doing the opposite.
So what do you do under that stress?

As the air thinned, I kept my mouth sealed and inhaled through my nose for a slow count of five, then exhaled through my nose for five. Balance the breathe in. Balance the breathe out.

That cadence slowed my heart rate, quieted internal noise, and conserved energy. It allowed me to stay deliberate—one step at a time—until I reached the summit.

In high-stakes decision environments—when an investment thesis is being tested or underwriting assumptions are under scrutiny—the body behaves the same way. Often, you don’t even notice that you’ve switched to mouth breathing.

So how do you stay regulated when stress inevitably arises?

• Seal your lips—switch to nose breathing
• Inhale for a slow count of five
• Exhale for a slow count of five
• Repeat for one to two minutes

The takeaway:
Use your nose. You always have it available. You control it.
Rhythmic breathing resets the nervous system.