Train with enough seriousness that reality feels slightly easier.

Practicing at a lower intensity than reality guarantees an unpleasant surprise. When training is genuinely demanding, the actual event feels like a slight relief rather than a step up, and that margin is where your composure comes from. Comfortable practice buys comfortable practice and nothing more.

Ask honestly whether your preparation is harder or easier than the thing you are preparing for. If it is easier, raise it somewhere: more repetitions, tighter constraints, less forgiving conditions. Aim to be pleasantly surprised by reality rather than ambushed by it.