Confidence: The Goal of the Mental Game

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who feels afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela

If you're an athlete and you're reading this, we’re going to perform a little exercise here. I want you to think of your best three performances this season (or last). How did you feel? What was the little voice inside your head saying? I want you to spend a few minutes reliving those experiences and moments.

Now, and I hate to do this to you, I want you to think of your three worst performances. How did that feel? What was the little voice inside your head saying? Spend a little time back in those moments.

When you compare your best performances to your worst, I’m willing to bet the greatest variable that changed (drastically) was confidence.

Playing the game confidently: with full force of being, trust in yourself, and complete and total belief in your ability to execute is the primary goal of the mental game.

Now, everyone and their dog knows they need to have confidence, but how can we be more confident? How can we have it more consistently? Perhaps most importantly, when we lose it, how can we regain it? How can we build a more resilient belief in ourselves?

First off, and this is very important: we must normalize fear of failure. Everyone, yes everyone, is afraid to fail - even the best of the best. They deal with self-doubt, indecision, and entire periods of time where they lack confidence. (Find even one of the greatest athletes of all time who didn't encounter a slump or two).

Understanding this is crucial. Fear of failure is not something to overcome once and for all. No. It's a completely normal aspect of being a living, breathing human being. Your fear of failing is always going to be there. The sooner you acknowledge this reality, the sooner you can begin to develop effective strategies to attack your fears head on.

It's up to you to turn that nervous pre-game energy into positive effect once the competition begins. You can either let those pre-game butterflies get the best of you - playing timid, tentative, and afraid to fail. Or, you can convert them into excitement and use that energy to propel you to perform at your best, with conviction and trust.

Pressure, after all, is a privilege! Any time you're feeling pressure, remember you've earned that feeling. You've put in a lot of work to get to this moment. It can be really helpful to remind yourself of where you started. Chances are the daunting pressure of an upcoming competition is something you once dreamt of having the opportunity of facing.

Confidence comes from two places: 1) preparation 2) past success

Reggie Jackson, the New York Yankees, and Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame outfielder who was nicknamed Mr. October, was quoted as stating, “Leave nothing undone. No detail is too small.”

Confidence is essentially just trust. When game time comes, you know in your heart of heart’s if you’re ready.

Past success is the second pillar of confidence. Remember, if you’ve done it before, chances are you can summon the skill and mental strength to do it again! The best athletes utilize visualization and imagery as a key component of their preparation. Put yourself back in your own personal highlight reels in order to feel those positive experiences and outcomes!

In the movie Bull Durham, the veteran minor league catcher Crash Davis imparts one last piece of advice to Nuke before he leaves to the major leagues. He tells him, “You be cocky and arrogant even when you’re getting beat. That’s the secret.”

This, of course, is a lot easier said than done. If you lack confidence, or tend to lose it at the first sign of trouble, the answer is always going to be in the work. Work harder and smarter to build trust in yourself to execute when it matters most.

Practice like you've never won in order to compete like you've never lost.