How do YOU conquer nerves??

[eric satie]

Hi to all, has anybody thought that performance anxiety may also be a result of being a perfectionist???

I started off wanting to be a performer, going through the conservatoire system, etc., when after numerous concerts and quite a few competitions I just didnt want to play anymore! I was not getting any pleasure out of it at all, and just didn't want the presure of 'having' to perform in front of a crowd. The classical repertoire seemed to stuffy, too controlling and being a perfectionist, nothing ever sounded 'good enough'. The system I was brought up with was all about playing the correct notes, rather than feeling the music and when actually I did make mistakes, I was devastated.
The funny thing is that now I'm currently pursuing graduate studies in music education and needing to speak in front of audiences in conferences, I have absolutely no problem doing this whatsoever, even with the ocassional trip of the tongue, and I actually kind of enjoy it.
Now I'm starting to practice again, after three years of dust collecting on my piano, and its painful. I do it for five-ten minutes, then I stop and this has been going on for a month. Is the memory of practicing 10hours a day during exams putting me off? Is the 'perfect' all-notes-right sound previously required discouraging me? Or do I just not love piano performance enough to pursue it, as a friend of mine recently told me?