What should you do if before throwing yourself into a situation, you think, “I can’t imagine how I would handle this well.” And then during the situation you think “aaaahhhhh! I don’t know what is going on or how to usefully focus my attention or get anything done!” And then after the situation you think “well, I failed pretty badly there”?

I’ve found in that sort of situation, it is tremendously useful to find a good book or other form of guidance so that I have a mental framework to organize information and a way to imagine myself succeeding. You know the OODA loop? I think theoretical knowledge really helps with the ‘Orient’ step.