Mya Quotes

When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me, and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day.

Auditioning is the worst.

Writing on assignment, with lots of money handed to you before you even began, got very scary for me. My dread of not being perfect, something I got from a childhood surrounded by powerful, successful people, began to infect everything I wrote.

It is always a challenge to work when people have big expectations. I would much rather feel comfortable working without expectations.

I've worried more and more as the years have gone on. The more you're seen to be doing well, the more stress there is. You feel you ought to consider things more, and be more fussy - there's further to fall. All these little worries.

It's the weight of expectation that's the hardest to deal with, really, from my point of view.

If you go to a game nervous, you make a mistake.

I do feel pressure. I have always been able to surprise people because they didn't know to expect anything from me. And now people are starting to have expectations.

Pressure makes me produce. Kills most guys. Mortifies 'em.

The questions that loom can be intimidating. 'What kind of moves is she gonna make? What is she gonna do?' There is this pressure that you're supposed to keep impressing.

The pressure was huge going into London, definitely.

I feel like it's harder because everyone knows I'm the three-time world champion - it's almost like people are waiting for something bad to happen.

I feel the pressure of getting something right.

Ever since I can remember, over-expectation and pressure have been my worst enemies.

It's impossible, when one team and one player is afraid of something that might happen in a match, they will not play well, they will not have 100 per cent confidence.

If I actually thought about 'Fresh Meat' going on television, I just couldn't or wouldn't do it - it's so terrifying!

Being the headliner is only more pressure if you're not very good.

I can never bring myself to watch Mahesh's films. It's way too stressful for me. All his family members are eager to attend and enjoy the previews of his films like normal people. But I sit at home chewing my nails, praying, wondering if this one will be as big as the previous one, and so on.

It has gotten worse as I'm becoming more successful. My nerves. Just because there's a bit more pressure, and people are expecting a lot more from me.

When it's going well, stand-up is the best thing in the world, but when it's not, it feels like all your toes are being pulled off one by one.

I was gonna throw the first pitch at a Mets game, but there was a rain delay. So I'm waiting for it to stop, and the team's manager, Willie Randolph, comes by. Now he's already intimidating to begin with. But he comes over to me and says, 'If you screw this up, they will boo you.' And I said 'Thanks.'

I'm always thinking 'Don't mess this up.'

I think it's one of the main negative emotional ingredients that fuels show business, because there's so much at stake and the fear of failure looms large.

When I first started as an editorial cartoonist, I was terrified on a daily basis. Filling that hole the next day, knowing that tens of thousands of people were going to expect something funny. There is still that pressure, but you kind of learn how to cope with it a little better.

Before I pitch any game, from spring training to Game 7 of the World Series, I'm scared to death.