Confidence: It’s like this mythical orb athletes are constantly chasing. We tend to look for confidence in all the wrong places, external sources (outcomes, previous training/performances, coaches, teammates, family, fans, superstitions, etc.) this constant chase can be exhausting. Society wants confident people yet the moment you think and act confident society labels you cocky. This makes it difficult for people as they are in this constant inner battle of trying to be confident and humble at the same time. What I’ve seen happen a lot is that we err on the side of being overly humble out of fear of being labeled cocky. This limits people from being their best self. You need to have confidence to give yourself the best chance to win (in sport and life). Winners tend to get more leeway from society in being able to think and act confidently, because we associate confidence with winning but even winners can’t escape the judgement of those not “in the arena.” If you think and act confident and are not winning people will give you a hard time as well. Tell you things like “you not that good, you need to be realistic.” This reinforces people to be fearful of being confident. So what does one do? You can be confident and humble, it takes intentional training and practice to stay true to yourself and believe. Developing confidence from the inside out is key. Quiet confidence, you do not have to tell anyone, but if they ask, respectfully say “yes, I am confident I can win” doesn’t mean you will, but gives you the best chance to. Regardless of outcome your confidence remains, you continue to work to get better because your confidence is not dependent on outcomes or external sources. Mental strength needs to be consistently trained just like every other aspect of training for performance. Trained or untrained? Which are you?
Confident or Cocky?