Sociopath Community

External barriers include money, resources, connections.
Internal barriers include laziness, emotional mood swings, low motivation and occasional substance abuse.  

I'm trying to be more open.

The main thing that holds me back is fear of failure. If I think I won't succeed, I won't bother. Which sits at odds with my narcissism and brews a ridiculous casserole of self-doubt and simultaneous grandiosity.

Doesn't help that I have bipolar I, and when I truly am manically grandiose, I pursue all my most fantastical whims. Like flying to Florida to be an astronaut...

And so, when I'm medicated out of my mind, I reject everything that could be considered even slightly "over-the-top" for the sake of my sanity.

I dunno, I mostly see pressure reduce performance when it's related to things like precision. I'd only see it helping for something like running or fighting, and even then, the technique is likely to suffer a bit. 

I guess it's a matter of efficiency versus quality.