Confidence | Warrior Mind Coach - Helping You Achieve Peak Performance

Mental Strength, Sports and Athletes Performance

Aug 022012

There are many factors that influence an athlete’s performance ability; genetic inheritance, fitness levels, technical skills and of course their mental strength.

Although many sports athletes will spend a lot of their time on their fitness and technical skills, the mental side of the game is often neglected and often only considered when trouble arises.

The skilled athlete has experienced times when they are ‘in the zone’, where they are performing at their physical and mental best in what some describe as a state of “Flow”. If you ask them how they achieved this flow state most likely you’ll get the response “I don’t know it JUST happens”. What this means is that it is an unconscious process and it is outside of their normal conscious awareness.

In modern sports the ability to access these flow states by optimizing mental skills can mean the difference between winning and just competing! Of course there is nothing wrong with competing but the “money” is on those who produce consistent results.

A good deal of the debate on stress has focused on the sporting environment and its impact on athlete’s performance. This is an important area for attention, but it is also true that it is possible to place two individuals into the same sporting environment and to observe that one succumbs to the pressures of stress and one thrives!

The difference between the two can be explained through the model of ‘mental strength. This explains how individuals develop resilience and an inner drive to succeed. ‘Mental strength’ emerges as a key component for individual athlete and team performance.

Applications and research show that mental strength is directly and closely related with:

Performance – explains up to 25% of the variation in performance

Behavior – more engaged, more positive, more “can do”

Wellbeing – more contentment, better stress management , less bullying

Aspirations – more ambitious, prepared to manage more risk

Research in the Psychology Department at the University of Hull – under the direction of Dr. Peter Clough Ch. Psych. Has identified the four key components of ‘mental strength’. This research has now been independently validated through studies in Canada, Italy as well as the UK.

Peter Clough’s work means that we now have:

We are able to define and describe ‘mental strength’ and use it to understand why people perform.

The first psychometric measure which measures an individual’s ‘mental strength’– it is valid & reliable.

The creation of a Mental Strength Development program – parts of which are validated and parts of which are unique.

The result is a complete process and program which has valuable applications in the world of sports and athletic performance.

Mental strength can be broken down into four categories and are called the 4C’s:

CONTROL

CHALLENGE

COMMITMENT

CONFIDENCE

CONTROL

Athletes who score high in the categories feel that they are in control of their performance and of the environment in which they compete.

They are capable of exerting more influence on their sporting and training environment and are more confident about working in complex scenarios.

This means for example that, at one end of the scale individuals are able handle lots of things at the same time. At the other end they may only be comfortable handling one thing at a time.

In addition, in the CONTROL category there are two subcategories:

CONTROL (EMOTION) – Athletes scoring highly on this scale are better able to control their emotions. They are able to keep anxieties in check and are less likely to reveal their emotional state to other people

CONTROL (LIFE) – Athletes scoring higher on this scale are more likely to believe that they control their lives. They feel that their plans will not be thwarted and that they can make a difference.

COMMITMENT

Sometimes described as “stickability”, this describes the ability for an athlete to carry out tasks/performance successfully despite any problems or obstacles that arise while achieving the goal.

An athlete who scores at the high-end of the scale will handle and achieve things to tough unyielding deadlines. Whereas an individual at the other end will need to be free from those kind of demands to achieve their goals.

CHALLENGE

Describes the extent to which athletes see problems as threats or opportunities. Some will actively seek out challenge and change and will identify these as ways for self-development. Others will perceive problems as threats.

So, for example, at one end of the scale we find those who thrive in continually changing environments. At the other end we find those who prefer to minimize their exposure to change and the problems that come with that – and will strongly prefer to work in stable environments.

CONFIDENCE

Athletes who are high in confidence have the self-belief to successfully complete tasks and performances, which may be considered too difficult by individuals with similar abilities but with lower confidence. Less confident individuals are also likely to be less persistent and to make more errors.

Athletes at one end of the scale will be able to take setbacks (externally and self-generated) in their stride. They keep their heads when things go wrong and it may even strengthen their resolve to do something. At the other end individuals will be unsettled by setbacks and will feel undermined by these.

Confidence also has two subcategories:

CONFIDENCE (ABILITIES) – Athletes scoring highly on this scale are more likely to believe that they are a truly worthwhile person. They are less dependent on external validation and are generally more optimistic about life.

CONFIDENCE (INTERPERSONAL) – Athletes scoring highly on this scale tend to be more assertive. They are less likely to be intimidated in social settings and are more likely to push themselves forward in groups. They are also better able to cope with difficult or awkward people.

Clearly the ‘mental strength’ model has specific and obvious applications for sports, individual athletic performance and team performance.

The challenge lies in identifying what might be the causes of stress and pressure for each athlete and to help them to become aware of these. Awareness leads to understanding, which, in turn, can lead to positive action – and improved athletic performance.

Similarly, where the team coach also becomes aware of the potential causes of stress and pressure they are more able to plan and to act to minimize their impact for peak performance.

Specific mental strength training for athletic performance, both individually and in teams, can be found at Mental Strength Training for Athletes.

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Expectations, Acceptance and Confidence

Mental Training, Peak Performance, Personal Develpoment, Personal Empowerment No Responses »

Jul 202012

During many coaching sessions the topic of expectations comes up. Expectation is a funny creature. It’s a double edge sword and depending on the situation can create some very dramatic emotions.

In this post I’m going to talk about expectations and acceptance on personal level. There’s an entirely different level of conversation when expectations and acceptance is used in a business scenario.

In the personal domain I’m going to be presuming that the basic motivation for all of us is to feel good. Feel good about ourselves and our lives.

Dealing with these two powerful words can be tricky at times. But also these words can define how happy or sad we are in our life, such is the power of these words.

Literary meanings:

Expectation – the hope or degree of probability that something will occur

Acceptance – the act of taking or receiving something as offered

Many people are not able to see the relation between these two words. And this is the major reason for being not very successful in professional and as well as personal life. Most of us are blindly trying to convert expectations into reality. It is such a waste of time, effort and life. What we need to know here is where to draw the line. The level of expectation should be in sync with the capability to deliver.

We always have a set of expectations from all the living and non-living things around us. Some of these expectations may be over and above the capability and if we don’t accept this fact it can result in dissatisfaction and problems.

But this does not mean that one should not try to enhance the capability.

We may have certain expectations from ourselves also. They can also be a source of dissatisfaction and sadness. At times we might expect a lot from ourselves but may not be capable of achieving it. We will only be able to enhance our skill or capability after accepting our weaknesses.

After mastering the art of dealing with these two words you might start experiencing a totally new and positive side of life. This will also help in keeping people around you happy. Everybody around you will see you as an adjusting and helpful individual.

I strongly believe in and have experienced the following saying:

”Happiness is directly proportional to acceptance and inversely proportional to expectation” – Michael J Fox

The Confidence-Expectation Connection

Many people who a personal coaching program with me usually don’t understand how confidence and expectation are separate.

Most people think if you have high expectations, you also must have high confidence, and this simply is not the case.

Here’s the dark side of strict and high expectations…it can literally undermine and suck the life out of your confidence.

To help you understand the difference here’s my definition:

Confidence is based on the strength of your belief on how well you will perform. Confidence is self and performance focused.

Expectations, on the other hand, are hopes or anticipations of a desired outcome from your performance. Expectations are outcome focused.

Confidence is simply a belief that precedes your performance and is void of strict expectations of a specific outcome. In addition, a confident individual doesn’t judge the quality of their performance based on expectations, results or outcomes.

Why are expectations so harmful to your confidence?

First, you’re setting yourself up for a win/lose proposition. You either achieve your expectations or you fail. Second, if you don’t achieve your expectations, you start to question your ability. Essentially, you set yourself up for failure before you even start.

Here’s something many don’t think about with expectations…almost all expectations are out of your control. That’s right…in most cases your expectation of an outcome is dependent on others to make it happen.

Many people, who’ve experienced success at some level, naturally have very high expectations for their performance. I think expectations naturally develop from success. Individuals then think that an expectation-filled mindset is the norm. After all, shouldn’t you expect great things from yourself?

Expect the best and demand high levels of performance. It sounds good.

Although this type of thinking sounds correct – it is not ideal because it sets you up for disappointment and frustration if you don’t execute on cue or achieve your expectations.

What makes expectations even more harmful is many people will elevate their expectations to an extent of perfection, for example, expecting to make a perfect trade (in the stock market) every time, making a profit in business during in the first day or expecting not to make any errors during a presentation, all these are examples of strict and unrealistic expectations that are almost impossible to achieve.

This leads me to the conclusion that expectations are really harmful to confidence and the ideal scenario is to have high levels of confidence (based on past performance and training) without the judgmental that comes with expectation.

Thus, part of my formulas for success is to develop high levels of confidence void of any expectations at all.

OK…I can hear you saying “What about goals…aren’t we supposed to set goals?”

Absolutely, goals are something to strive for, the give you focus and motivation behind your actions. And be careful with goals, there are three kinds of goals:

Outcome
Performance
Practice

Outcome goals are intended to give you focus and motivation to achieve your practice and performance goals.

Also, it’s beneficial to replace expectations by setting long-term manageable Achievable Outcomes and mid and short-term SMARTER goals that are not based on judgmental behavior.

The Solution

Do you expect perfection, but do not have the confidence to back it up?

It should be just the opposite – and this is often a revelation for many individuals, especially after they understand the definition of the terms in the above formula.

Having high confidence and manageable objectives gives you a positive, process focus in place of judgmental strict expectations and specific outcome-orientated results.

The three-step solution is:

Identify strict, unrealistic expectations that affect your confidence negatively.
Understand how to harness the power of confidence and how confidence differs from expectations
Replace expectations with manageable goals. Focus on manageable mid, short and micro-goals, i.e. process goals and do not turn them into expectations.

If you’d like to explore expectation, acceptance and confidence further, request your Introductory Consultation today.

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Taking Control Of Your Inner Game For Personal Success

Mental Strength, Personal Success No Responses »

Nov 292011

We’ve all heard time and again that “Attitude is everything”.

In this life, we play two games, the inner game of mental causes and an outer game of physical effects. The inner game consists of the thoughts, feelings and emotions that we have; our values, attitudes and beliefs.

The outer game is the effect of the thoughts, feelings and emotions. It’s the work we do, the actions we take and the way we present ourselves to the world.

The outer game of our results…our physical manifestation, is the game we show the world, but the inner game is the most important facet of our personal success.

The people who succeed in this life are the people who:

Know they can
Know they will
And act ‘as if’

Take a look at your favorite athlete. The ones that win both games are the ones that have that unshakeable belief that they will win.

Call it confidence, call it arrogance but the athletes with the winning edge all have that attitude. They have their inner game under control and it’s manifested in their outer game, even though some may do it unconsciously.

When you approach your task…your mission, with unstoppable confidence, unshakeable beliefs and unflinching determination to succeed that is exactly what you do.

You will succeed!

When you say it the way you want it…you get it.

When you approach your task with doubt, worries and uncertainty that is exactly what you create…doubt, worries, and uncertainty…not success. If you are to create the personal success you are looking for, you must first pay attention to your inner game…your mental strength.

You must develop align your values and beliefs with your thoughts. This will create the unstoppable confidence, unshakeable beliefs and unflinching determination that will give you the winning edge.

So how do you go about winning at the inner game?

You need to study success.

Success leaves clues.

All you have to do is model it.

Learn all that you can about you’re your discipline. Find someone who is successful at what you want to do and read all about how they did it. WARNING: Many people make the mistake of following EVERYTHING about their role model.

In many cases this can lead to destruction. Model only the behaviors and habits that support you in your goals and dreams and leave the rest alone.

In addition to modeling conduct research on your own. Knowing all of the ins and outs of your game can do wonders for your confidence. You need to set goals. Having a target to shoot for keeps you going when times are not easy.

You’ll need to develop the mental strength by keeping your thoughts and beliefs in harmony with your goal.

One method is affirmations. Affirmations can help with this but only if you put emotions into your affirmations. When you are working with affirmations repetition is necessary too. You can’t just say it once or twice and expect it to sink into your subconscious mind. A good affirmation bears repeating again and again and again.

Another method is visualization. See your success in your mind’s eye and include ALL your senses. See it, hear it, smell it, touch it and taste it. In other words, engage your senses in your imagination as you visualize. The more senses you engage the more real it becomes. The more real it becomes the closer it is to manifesting in your real life. So daydream. Visualize. Imagine your success down to the most intricate detail. This is your creation.

One more powerful way to develop your mental strength is constantly move outside your comfort zone. We all have comfort zones for each area of our lives, i.e. relationships, business, fitness. Start with one area that’s easy for you, say relationships. Make it a habit to meet one new person a day. You don’t have to become lifelong friends, just meet someone new.

Then notice how you felt and what did you want to do before you met the person. The notice how you feel and what you did do after you met the person. Now simply apply this success formula to the other areas of your life.

This is your life….your manifestation. This is your Success and only yours. You have the responsibility to develop your own mental strength. This will build your inner game of attitude and you will come out a winner.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Warrior Mind Podcast Episode # 56 – Confidence

Personal Success, Podcast No Responses »

Sep 242011

This Warrior Mind podcast is based on Mental Strength Tip #20 – Absolute Confidence for Personal Success

Self-Confidence is a Mindset

Confidence is a mindset, but it is based a tangible things such as your past success. You probably derive your confidence from one or more of the following three sources:

From your “practice”

From what other people say or do

From immediate past performance

I mention these sources of confidence because you absolutely have to tap into what makes your personal confidence clock tick. Most people will tell you that confidence comes from past success, performing well or positive experiences in their chosen field.

Confidence also varies depending on the task you are performing. You may be very confident in your specific ability, but less confident with marketing/selling yourself. In personal success a person can have a high level of confidence with their personal ability , a medium level with their sales ability and a low level with their presentation ability.

What is self-confidence?

Confidence is a belief in the strength of your ability to perform a task. It’s a mindset that says, “I can do this.” Confidence is not the same as self-esteem. Self-esteem is based on your assessment or appraisal of your person. You can approach a task with at least six levels of confidence:

I hope I can perform this task…

I Maybe I can perform this task…

I think I can perform this task…

I believe I can perform this task…

I know I can perform this task…

I will perform this task successfully…

The opposite of confidence is doubt, indecision, and negative thoughts. When you doubt your ability to perform well, you are not confident and vise versa. Sometimes you can’t control the outcome of a competition, but you can control how you think and behave during the competition.

Enjoy the Podcast below:

I encourage you to begin to monitor the way you use self-talk and what you say to others. Self talk is the single most powerful proactive reprogramming technique.

Another tool to use is visualization. See yourself exuding absolute self-confidence in a situation that is currently creating some uncertainty and anxiety. As your visualization program becomes a habit, your subconscious mind will begin to see the internal representation as ‘real.’ Visualization combined with positive self-talk will serve as the foundation for developing a mental strength belief system.

The development of self-confidence is critical for the achievement of personal success and peak personal performance. It’s both and active and passive process. The active part is done through self talk, visualization and other mental strength techniques.

The passive part occurs when you begin to experience uncommon success. Most people wait for personal success, but as your mental strength coach, my job is to help you understand that to get the results you’ve never gotten you’re going to have to become someone you’ve never been.

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Mental Strength and Police Stop and Search Behavior

Tactical Athlete 2 Responses »

Sep 132011

I think assessments are a powerful tool, especially mindset assessments that help in developing mental strength for tactical athletes.

Unfortunately many individuals and departments don’t agree with this and often don’t see the value for mental training.

One mental strength assessment I use is the MSQ48. It provides a reliable and quick assessment of a tactical athlete’s ability to withstand pressure in a range of workplace environments. It measures mental strength in terms of 4 core components.

Control

Challenge

Commitment

Confidence.

Before we get into the components of the assessment and a case study let’s quickly look at some views on what Mental strength is.

“Mental strength is: The ability to “perform under pressure”- Tim Henman (in Coaching Excellence, 1996)

“Having complete control over your emotions . . . and controlling all situations you can control” – Greg Rusedki (in Coaching Excellence, 1996)

“The mentally strong individual has a high sense of self-belief and an unshakeable faith that they control their own destiny. Furthermore, they remain relatively unaffected by competition or adversity.” – Peter Clough

Mental strength refers to an individual’s resilience and an inner drive to succeed – particularly when the going is challenging. It explains why it is possible to place two individuals into the same environment and to see that one finds it difficult to cope with pressure and one thrives.

The mentally strong person tends to be:

Sociable and outgoing

Being able to remain calm and relaxed, they are competitive in many situations and have lower anxiety levels than others

With a high sense of self-belief and an unshakeable faith that they control their own destiny, these individuals can remain relatively unaffected by competition or adversity.

The key issues around mental strength that an individual and organization/department need to understand are:

What causes one person to succumb and another to thrive?

Can we identify people’s strengths and weaknesses in these areas?

Can we “toughen up” individuals to enable them to handle stressors more effectively?

How can we support individuals better with their specific needs?

Core Components of Mental Strength Assessment

Research in the Psychology Department, at the University of Hull, under the direction of Dr. Peter Clough identified 4 key components of Mental Strength:

Control

Challenge

Commitment

Confidence

It’s important to understand that the assessment is used to assist individuals, specifically the tactical athlete, identify areas for improvement and to create a cohesive team.

This is done by looking at the results of the assessment and then develop a mental strength coaching program to work with the individuals to improve their mental strength.

Control

Individuals who score high on this scale feel that they are in control of their work and of the environment in which they work. They are capable of exerting more influence on their working environment and are more confident about working in complex or multi-tasked situations.

This means for example that, at one end of the scale individuals are able to handle lots of things at the same time.

At the other end they may only be comfortable handling one thing at a time.

There are also 2 subcomponents to Control

Control (Emotion) – Individuals scoring highly on this scale are better able to control their emotions. They are able to keep anxieties in check and are less likely to reveal their emotional state to other people.

Control (Life) – Individuals scoring higher on this scale are more likely to believe that they control their lives. They feel that their plans will not be thwarted and that they can make a difference.

Challenge (Sometimes Called Change Orientation)

Describes the extent to which individuals see challenges as opportunities. Individuals who see them as opportunities will actively seek them out and will identify problems as ways for self-development.

At the other end challenges are perceived as problems and threats. So, for example, at one end of the scale we find those who thrive in continually changing environments.

At the other end we find those who prefer to minimize their exposure to change and the problems that come with that – and will strongly prefer to work in stable environments.

Commitment

Sometimes described as “stickability”, this describes the ability for an individual to carry out tasks successfully despite any problems or obstacles that arise whilst achieving the goal.

Consequently an individual who scores at the high-end of the scale will be able to handle and achieve things to tough unyielding deadlines. Whereas an individual at the other end will need to be free from those kind of demands to achieve their goals.

Confidence

Individuals who are high in confidence have the self-belief to successfully complete tasks, which may be considered too difficult by individuals with similar abilities but with lower confidence.

Less confident individuals are also likely to be less persistent and may make more errors.

For example, individuals at one end of the scale will be able to take setbacks (externally and self-generated) in their stride. They keep their heads when things go wrong and it may even strengthen their resolve to do something.

At the other end individuals will be unsettled by setbacks and will feel undermined by these. Their heads are said to “drop”.

Confidence (Abilities) – Individuals scoring highly on this scale are more likely to believe that they are a truly worthwhile person. They are less dependent on external validation and tend to be more optimistic about life in general.

Confidence (Interpersonal) – Individuals scoring highly on this scale tend to be more assertive. They are less likely to be intimidated in social settings and are more likely to push themselves forward in groups. They are also better able to cope with difficult or awkward people.

Mental Strength and Police Stop and Search Behavior

Police performance and behavior is of critical interest. Especially in the officers willingness to participate in stop and search activities, regardless of the risks involved in such actions.

A study a few years back assessed police officers stop and search behavior while on their beat. Stop and search responsibilities and actions are a key performance criterion for the ‘beat’ police officer.

Such actions are difficult to perform and are often carried out in difficult and dangerous settings. As such, there can be concerns that some officers may be avoiding this activity to reduce their stress levels.

The study followed 110 police officers on their beat activities. All completed the MSQ48 prior to a period of beat shifts. During shifts, officers automatically report stop and search activities, but they were also asked to record their desire to participate in such activities.

Anxiety levels were also recorded for consideration.

Results

Relationship between the assessment and the desire and usage of stop and search

Overall Desire Overall Use Overall Anxiety

Total Mental strength 0.19* 0.24* -0.59*

Challenge 0.15 0.21* -0.53*

Commitment 0.18 0.18 -0.40*

Control 0.15 0.19* -0.51*

Confidence 0.18 0.26* -0.60*

Emotional Control 0.16 0.14 -0.29*

Life Control 0.10 0.19 -0.59*

Confidence (abilities) 0.11 0.15 -0.61*

Confidence (interpersonal) 0.22* 0.33* -0.42*

Overall Desire 0.81* -.0.15

Overall Use 0.811*

Overall Anxiety -0.11 -0.15

* Significant correlations

Firstly, it is important to note that actual use of stop and search activities were associated with an increased desire to carry them out.

In relation to mental strength: Higher levels of overall mental strength were associated with increased desire to carry out and actual use of stop and search activities, as well as reduced levels of anxiety.

Additionally, desire to stop and search was associated with high levels of interpersonal confidence.

Overall use of stop and search activities was associated with higher levels of challenge, overall control, overall confidence, and interpersonal confidence. All mental strength components were associated with lower levels of reported anxiety.

Implications

Increased mental strength is associated with increased desire to use and actual use of stop and search activities. Total mental strength and interpersonal confidence is associated with increased desire to stop and search, whereas Total mental strength, challenge, control, confidence and interpersonal confidence is associated with increased use of stop and search.

As such, mental strength seems to be a key factor in the ‘beat’ officers’ ability and willingness to perform their activities. A finding further emphasized by higher mental strength is associated with lower anxiety.

The results reported here demonstrate that although mental strength is strongly associated with anxiety, anxiety does not seem to influence stop and search desire or use. This suggests that it is not anxiety, but the individual’s personal characteristics that influence their behavior in these settings.

These implications reach far outside the police force and apply to all operational and tactical athletes as well as first responders.

It seems that highly mentally strong individuals seem better able to work in stressful settings and carry out seemingly stressful and tough jobs compared to their lower mentally tough counterparts.

These findings add further weight to the argument that increased mental strength is associated with improved ability to deal with stressors and perform under pressure.

The use of mental strength assessment further demonstrates specific and occupational relevant measure of personal characteristics that can then be coached and improved upon.

I’d like to hear your thoughts below in the comment section.

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How To Gain Confidence For Peak Athletic Performance

Athletic Performance, Personal Performance 2 Responses »

Aug 252011

I think it’s safe to say that confidence is critical for peak athletic performance…actually confidence is critical to reach ANY personal goal or peak personal performance!

In sports specifically, confidence is that belief in your ability that will affect your athletic performance on the field and in the weight room. Any questions, any doubts about your abilities will eroded your confidence.

Confidence and lack of confidence absolutely impacts your training and athletic performance.

How likely is a golfer to make a putt when they don’t really think he can make it? Do you think a baseball player who is struggling with their hitting will get a hit when they believes “I’m in such a slump; there’s no way I’m going to connect”?

As anyone can understand, these athletes are going to perform sub-par (no pun intended) and not up to their athletic potential, mostly because they don’t have confidence in their abilities.

So can someone wave a magic-wand and instill confidence in an athlete?

Or can you yell and plead with an athlete for them to have confidence?

Of course not!

Confidence in their athletic ability comes from all the successful little things they do and that they acknowledge. At times, athletes get so caught up in searching for confidence that they miss all the little things they are doing on a daily basis that serve as the foundation for athletic confidence.

Renowned sport psychologist Jim Loehr likes to refer to Tiger Woods and how strong his mental game is. Dr. Loehr says to pay particular attention to what Tiger says in the press conference after a round of golf.

Of course this was the “old” Tiger and it’s still useful to see the characteristics in Tiger that made him so great when he was at the top of his game.

Back when Tiger was doing great he may have missed every fairway and then reporters asking him questions like, “Have you ever played so poorly?” Tiger would respond with comments like, “My short game was really on today” or “I was able to get out of some difficult situations. I have an opportunity to go hit some drives today and come out with my A-game tomorrow.”

Side Note: It would be nice if Tiger could get back that empowering perspective. Then again, it only takes looking at the little things.

Drawing confidence from the little things, even though the outcome is not what you may have wanted is very effective. There is a tendency to believe confidence is built solely on peak or breakthrough performances, especially during clutch situations.

Not so.

It’s essential to understand that confidence can, and does, come through the incremental successes athletes experience on a regular basis.

This quote by Roger Staubach, NFL Quarterback sums it nicely.

“Confidence comes from hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication. When I’m in the last two minutes of a December playoff game, I’m drawing confidence from wind sprints I did the previous March. It’s just a circle: work and confidence, then more work and more confidence.”

Confidence is a by-product from the day-in and day-out, week -in and week-out work an athlete is doing.

In your efforts to build and maintain athletic confidence, it’s important to focus on the little things that you are doing well. So, what are these “little things” that you can do to help develop a solid foundation of athletic confidence?

Below I present examples of some “little things” you can do that will assist you in building your athletic confidence.

Read through the questions then use them as a starting point to develop your own personalized check-list of confidence boosters. Identify the little, yet critical, things you do that you can draw upon when preparing for your next competition.

Each of the questions focuses on a mini-success that will help you build confidence by noticing what you are working on and taking steps towards in achieving your athletic goals.

So, let’s get started.

Here’s your fieldwork, identify a list of little things you do already that does or can fuel your athletic confidence. Identify these “little things” today to further increase your confidence for peak athletic performance.

Acknowledge when you meet these goals. I know you can find something positive in every practice or training session, no matter how bad you think it is.

I encourage you to write something down after each practice that you did well. Soon you will see how many little things you are doing right, giving you the confidence to take your athletic performance to the next level

Athletic Performance and Training Questions

Do you train with consistency? Do you make every practice session? There may be days you do not want to get out of bed, but doing so is important to physical development and confidence.

Do you get proper sleep? Not just prior to a competition but in preparation for training as well.

Do you maintain a diet that is conducive to athletic success? You know that the “fuel” you put in your body effects how well the “engine runs”. This includes staying hydrated as well.

Have you made a commitment to stretching and flexibility? Some athletes do not put forth full effort on these as they are not perceived as being the main components of a workout. But, doing all the little things to take care of your body can boost confidence and it is critical to long-term health and athletic performance.

Do you strive to maintain a positive attitude? Accept that it is not always easy to do then commit to working on your attitude.

Do you keep your attention on the task at hand? When at practice, are you there physically and mentally? Doing so will impact performance which will impact athletic confidence.

Do you train with quality? There is a qualitative difference between “just doing it” and doing it with purpose and intensity.

Do you address the mental aspect of performance in training and competition? Using mental skills on a consistent basis to manage and enhance performance can bolster your confidence that you have optimized preparation.

Do you maintain a high effort? Do you commit your energies whether it is the first sprint in pre-season or the last sprint? As noted by Roger Staubach quote, effort in the little things months ago can play a role in confidence and performance today.

Have you made a commitment to strength training? Recognize how the work you do in the weight room translates to performance on the field to build your athletic confidence.

Do you work to perfect technique? Do you strive for technical excellence in everything you do? As an athlete, you can study video of yourself or others, breakdown training sessions, and get feedback as part of a commitment to perfect the process of your athletic performance.

OK, let me know your thoughts on building confidence in the comments below.

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Mental Strength, Confidence and Athletic Performance

Athletic Performance 2 Responses »

May 122011

I know we just moved out of ski season, but skiing has so much to teach us about mental strength, confidence and athletic performance. So, I’m going to begin this post with a reference to skiing.

There you are in Lake Tahoe, Park City or perhaps Mammoth Mt. You’re standing at the top of black diamond run trying to no avail to convince yourself that you can ski a clean run. You keep telling yourself “be confident” and “I can do it” but it doesn’t seem to help your confidence or your performance.

Instead, the voice in your head is telling you, “You haven’t had a clean run all day so why should this run be different?” Typically, you get about halfway through the moguls when you start to tighten up because you just know you’re going to miss a turn and either take a spill or have to stop. You want to be confident, since you know this is critical to your athletic performance, but you don’t know what to do to build your confidence. So you stop, head off to the lodge and grab a hot drink and sit by the fireplace.

As an athlete in any sport this situation probably rings true for you, except perhaps the fireplace. It might show up each time you are challenging yourself to successfully complete a more demanding task, try a new maneuver, or to push through whatever is holding you back.

To do so successfully requires that you believe you can do it. But, how can you be confident when it’s something you haven’t tried before or haven’t successfully accomplished? In this post, I’ll address the difficult mental strength topic of confidence and give some ideas about how you can begin to build and control your confidence immediately!

What is Confidence?

To better understand confidence, I’d like to make reference to a quote from a newspaper article from several years ago. Michael Jordan had started a specific basketball game going 0 for 9. The reporter asked MJ after the game, why he kept asking for the ball instead of ditching it to a player who had a hotter hand since he was honestly having an off night. Michael’s comment was simple, he said he is not and never has been a 0 for 10 shooter…so the next shot had to go in! What confidence in the face of seeming failure. Whereas most asked athletes would be hesitant taking more shots, Michael didn’t allow this “failure” to affect his next shot; he maintained his belief in his ability to make a basket on his next shot.

Simply put, confidence is your belief in your ability to succeed. While you probably already know that confidence is critical to performance, further support of this belief is found through research on élite athletes; high confidence is a skill that consistently characterizes élite athletes. However, being confident doesn’t mean that you never doubt yourself. In fact, highly confident élite athletes report negative thoughts and concerns about performance.

Being confident relates to performing well despite such concerns and negative thoughts. Keep this in mind the next time you’re apprehensive about attempting a new skill or one that you’ve been having difficulty with, your apprehension doesn’t mean you can’t be successful.

Unfortunately, confidence can be a difficult concept to get one’s head around; it is a state that often times seems elusive and fleeting. One dropped pass, one missed shot or one bad run and your confidence can drop faster than the Hindenburg.

Because of this, athletes and especially coaches often perceive that confidence is something you either have or you don’t have. The reality is that confidence, just like other physical or mental strength skill, can be learned, built upon and control. Sure it’s simple to understand, but it’s not an easy task to accomplish.

We understand and know how confidence relates directly to personal success and athletic performance and we also know it is a mental strength skill that you can learn. The question you’re probably thinking is “what can I do to bolster and build my confidence and have some control over?”

Mental Strength Strategies to Build Confidence

Much of the understanding of how to build and support confidence can be credited to Albert Bandura. He conducted research on self-efficacy (self-confidence) a concept that is closely related to confidence, and identified primary sources of self-efficacy. That is, he looked at the primary means by which people develop a belief in their abilities in given situations.

It’s from this research, as well as extensive interaction with athletes and coaches, that many of the following suggestions were developed. Keep in mind that these strategies will be relatively easy to implement when you performing well. It’s when you’re fumbling around, missing shots and generally performing poorly that it’s going to be quite a challenge to carry out these confidence building and confidence rescue strategies. However, it is exactly during these difficult times when you need keep and build the confidence in yourself. So be persistent and consistent in the implementation of these strategies and you’ll find your confidence will always be there for you.

Create and/or Look For Success:

Through years of research it has been found that the best way to build confidence is through successful past performances. More simply put, success breeds confidence. No big shocker here, right?

For most athletes and coaches, the surprise comes in understanding that successful performances doesn’t just relate competition, which is often what is assumed. Athletes seem to think they need to “win” to build confidence. In reality, success can be found all areas of performance…in the little things you do on a daily basis.

Success can come from achieving a training goal you set for yourself or going for your morning one run when you really want to stay in bed. Success can be the two additional repetitions you crank out in gym or simple as maintaining a positive attitude throughout training. Success can also be executing correct technique through a difficult part a performance in practice. Your goal here is to find and/or create a daily success journal that will help you build confidence.

Model Other Successful Athletes:

Another effective means of developing confidence is through the process of modeling (the success of others). You can experience success vicariously by watching someone else successfully execute a skill or accomplish a task that you are learning or want to perfect. Watching a teammate successfully execute a specific maneuver or skill will diminish your apprehension and provide you with a sense of confidence that you can execute that skill….”what one can do, any can do.”

Using this strategy, you might videotape another athlete performing the skill, challenge or run or event, i.e. skiing a difficult slop, in track and field video a 110 hurled race. Then you can use visualization to see yourself executing the same run/performance with the results you want. Imagine the boost to your confidences having seen someone else do something and then seeing yourself experiencing success.

Act As If:

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “fake it until you make it”, haven’t you? Well, there’s a lot of truth behind this axiom. Your thoughts, feelings and behaviors are always linked. If you behave as if you have no confidence, this will unquestionably influence your thoughts and feelings related to your confidence.

Conversely, if you act confident, this will help trigger a confident mindset. So, how does a confident person behaving act? Well find one and model them…ever hear of Muhammad Ali? In addition, some typical responses might include; head held high, shoulders back, a slight bounce or strut in one step, control of pre-competition anxiety, wanting to be challenged and even seeking out challenges, and a focus on oneself. Begin acting the part of a confident athlete and you will be a confident athlete.

Take Your P’s With You:

P’s? No that that “P”…”P’s” as in Positives. Confidence can be built and enhanced by keeping your positives and successes in the forefront. When confidence is shaky, there is a tendency to fall back to the negatives, to mistakes and deficiencies i.e. “I missed again”, “Why can’t I do this?” Thoughts and focus need to be purposely directed to your positives. Before starting a practice or event, instead of focusing on what you missed, remind yourself of the things you did right, that you could do again.

Focus on Achievable Goals:

Setting realistic daily goals is especially valuable strategy when things are going poorly, when you are struggling with your performance and in your confidence. You need to experience success and quickly. The best way to do this is to identify daily goals that are challenging but “do-able” to set yourself up for success.

Unfortunately, when struggling, athletes often compare themselves to their best performances, i.e. “I used to do this run under one minute and now I’m not even close”, “Last month I lifted 25 lbs.” Stop thinking about what you used to and focus on what you WANT to do and accomplish (today).

Be Aware of Your Self-Talk:

We all know the importance of talking positively to help build confidence. But, simply saying to yourself, “be confident” is not enough and most likely will not really have an effective.

A better approach is to program yourself, through your self talk, to be confident. That is, you can tell yourself what specifically you need to do, i.e., catch the pass, you’re your line, stay tucked. You can also tell yourself why you can and will be successful, i.e. you’ve trained hard or you’ve done this in practice a dozen times. Remember, this is not an easy task. It is one thing to say it and quite another to say it with conviction.

There ya go…by implementing these mental strength strategies for building confidence you’re on your way to controlling, managing and programming your confidence. Be patient, as this won’t happen overnight…unless you want it to. And with commitment and discipline you can learn these skills of confidence and achieve peak performance

In the words of Chuck Knox (NFL coach) “One of the most important qualities for young athletes is the ability to believe in oneself. If you have confidence in yourself, in your teammates and in your coach, you will succeed.”

OK…let me hear your thoughts and other process you use to increase your confidence in the comments below.

Mental Strength Tip #35 – Bravery and Personal Success (warriormindcoach.com)
Eliminating Anxiety for Peak Performance (warriormindcoach.com)
Energy Management and Athletic Performance (warriormindcoach.com)
Practicing Mental Strength For Peak Personal Performance (warriormindcoach.com)
Mental Strength – The Unfair Advantage (warriormindcoach.com)
Nervousness And Athletic Performance (warriormindcoach.com)
Mental Strength Tip #38 – Mental Strength and Decisiveness (warriormindcoach.com)
Mental Training and Sports Performance (warriormindcoach.com)
Mental Rehearsal And Athletic Performance (warriormindcoach.com)

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The Mindset of Confidence – Part II

Personal Empowerment, Personal Success No Responses »

Jan 262011

In The Mindset of Confidence – Part I we discussed how confidence has been associated with many things like top human performance, being able to reach your personal goals, even having the inner strength to stand in your personal power.

Once more I’d like to thank my coaching school, ICA, for their assistance and inspiration for this article.

Application

One of the main things that holds a person back that is new to a particular area of their life, i.e. a new career, a new business. This is especially true for someone in a “service” profession (coaching, personal training, massage therapy) then more seasoned coach is confidence. Perhaps they fear they do not have anything of value to offer. This could not be further from the truth. We all have something to offer others, especially our clients, based upon our life experiences and because of simply who we are.

Understanding Your Value

For most new service professionals, one of the biggest blocks is doubt in oneself. They’re usually worried that without being extensive in an area, they might not have done enough. Worse yet, they believe they’ll be called a fraud. Or what if, at some point in the session, they don’t have a solution, or don’t know what to say or do?

If this is you here’s a message for: YOU HAVE A LOT TO OFFER!

Even without specific skills and background, here are some of the wonderful things that you may already provide:

Listening: Not many people really listen. Good listeners are few and far between. Most people practice the art of waiting for someone else to stop speaking so that they can have their turn. Really listening is a fantastic service to provide.

Providing Structure: It’s amazing how much someone will get done when they know someone will ask them next week: “How did you do?” By being there with them, even if it’s across the table or on the other end of the phone – you’re helping them focus their attention on what is important in their life. You are a support.

Partnering in Their Personal Success: Many people have partners in physical fitness, i.e. a running partner, workout partner or a yoga partner. Without their partner they might not run as far, lift as much or even go to class! However, with a partner, their attention is focused on running, for example. They run more often, further, smarter, have more fun, and so forth. Partnering with someone in their personal success is a powerful service to offer.

A Sounding Board: Hearing ourselves speak out loud takes our thoughts to another level. Speech brings thoughts out into the open rather than just having a conversation in our mind. Speaking our thoughts out loud to someone allows us to “test? our ideas/thoughts. It also helps us to hear them in a different way as we can repeat back what they have just said. Putting ideas into words helps my clients become clearer. As they speak, my clients get clarity about an issue. There can be value for them in simply speaking aloud whatever has been in their mind all week. Stating an idea, dream or vision gives it a life and this gives them personal power.

A Different Perspective: We all have “blind spots”: aspects of our lives that we can’t see clearly because of habit, emotions or being too close to the situation. When it comes to our own lives, many of us “can’t see the forest through the trees”. Often when we get a different perspective on our lives, it comes from someone who, in turn, has their own particular take on the issue based on their habits, emotions and relationship with us. Having someone who is both an objective third person, but is also someone who we can trust, is a winning combination. Your life experience: No matter who you are, you’ve learned things that could be helpful to someone else.

You might be married, divorced, in love, out of love, healthy, unfit, rich, poor, a parent, an orphan, employee, boss, etc. You may have worked at a summer camp, played in a band, run a marathon, switched careers, grieved for someone lost. Regardless of your experience, there are things you’ve learned along your path that will allow you to empathize with another.

You can use your life experience to understand, listen, perceive, and help someone through a situation similar to yours.

Your Prior Training: You may have taken a communication course at work, a personal development course, read personal development books, done a degree and spoken to groups of people. You have a very rich canvass of experiences and skills.

Re-framing Your Personal Perspective

How comfortable do you feel five minutes before a session you’re going to give?
How do you feel if it doesn’t go as planned?
Are you comfortable enough to invite ALL of your friends and colleagues to experience a session with you?

If you’re not, it may be because of your perspective. For example, as a coach, if I feel that a client has serious problems, which MUST be fixed, I could feel some pressure, or reluctance, even concern, as a coach, to move forward. Just as I support my clients to distinguish a perspective, and re-frame it, I invite you to do the same, regardless of your profession…yes this will take mental strength and it will help in your personal development.

You will know when you have made this mental shift, because you’ll feel complete freedom to be there for anyone. First you will need to find the perspective you are currently using so that you can then reframe it. If you feel anxious about a session, try to identify the messages that are going on in your head that are leading to this anxiety.

Here are some disempowering perspectives. Take notice how these can also apply to our own self-worth as a person. These a service/business perspectives and with some simple rewording, think about how they apply elsewhere in you life:

I MUST convince them I’m worthwhile and worthy
I MUST keep them as a client
I MUST make sure I get them as clients
If I don’t know what to say I’ll look stupid
I’m a fraud (they may think I am one)
This client is counting on me!
What if I let them down? If I give the wrong advice, I’ll feel terrible
What if, deep down, I’m really not a good coach or person?
I don’t know enough yet.
One day I’ll be a good coach/trainer/advisor
I really hope I impress this person with my ability (this one is especially common)

Notice how much attention you have on YOU and how you come across, instead of focusing on your client and what’s best for them. The following are examples of re-framed perspectives that can help you come from your own personal power:

The client must live their life. I’ll support them in the best way I can
The client gets the credit for the work they do, and is also responsible for their own actions and results
I create value simply by being there, being present
Every session is an exploration of possibilities
I give up my need to look good
How can I be of service in every moment?
Life is fun! I’ll remember that when I become too serious or significant
I respect myself as a human being and as a trainer/advisor/coach.
I know I’ll do the best I can
I trust that whatever happens with each client is for the best
I give up my need to control everything and I am ready to be in the flow
I will offer my services to EVERYBODY
I’m going to have FUN in every session

What new perspective can you create?

Coming from a perspective of gratitude or trust will allow you to “be with” your clients. You will be present in the moment, instead of feeling that you have to quickly do something and fix something, or feeling nervous about whether or not the session will work out.

Here are some additional questions to consider for yourself, whether in business or life:

Can you sit with a client/friend in silence?
Can you hear a complaint and be still?
Can you say to a friend or client: “I don’t know?”
Can you sit and create an intention for your session or friend?

Coaching, like many of the so-called “human professions” (fitness training, massage, therapy, etc), requires a high level of physical, emotional and spiritual health. If we are feeling low, we find it hard to maintain enough emotional reserves to really be present for clients. If we are feeling physically unwell we find it hard to muster the energy to listen intently for the length of the session. Self-care is not just a good idea, it is essential to being a good “human professional.”

It is the “oxygen” that we need in order to look after our clients. Trust yourself and continue to move forward in your personal growth. Ensure you have a support team working with you to achieve the personal success that you wish. This means of course getting a coach

Contemplation

Who do you know who feels completely confident and free to provide their service?
What is their perspective?
What is yours?
What is your purpose as a human professional service provider and how will you achieve this?
Write up an action list in your personal development plan…you do have one right?

If you’d like to additional information on improving your mindset, confidence and personal performance grab a copy of, “Develop the Mental Strength of a Warrior” now. It will affect the way you think and act, so that you can live up to your ultimate personal power!

If you’d really like to make fast progress towards realizing your full personal power and potential as well as develop the mindset of confidence, request your Introductory Consultation today!

OK…what are your thoughts about confidence as it relates to the service you provide? Please let me know in the comments below.

The Power of Listening For Personal Development – Part II (warriormindcoach.com)
Personal Power – Are You Really The Best You Can Be? (warriormindcoach.com)
Mental Strength Tip # 25 – Meta-Cognition For Personal Success (warriormindcoach.com)
Mental Strength Tip #20 – Absolute Confidence for Personal Success (warriormindcoach.com)
The Mindset of Confidence – Part I (warriormindcoach.com)

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The Mindset of Confidence – Part I

Personal Develpoment, Personal Performance 2 Responses »

Jan 192011

Confidence has been associated with many things like top human performance, being able to reach your personal goals, even having the inner strength to stand in your personal power.

I’d like to discuss further and before I do I’d like to thank my coaching school, ICA, for their assistance and inspiration for this article.

Confidence does not mean having a big fat ego. Confidence doesn’t mean you think more of yourself thank others. Confidence doesn’t mean you are better than the next person. All of these feelings and thoughts are the result of low self esteem.

Low self esteem = low levels of confidence = low personal power

Throughout the media and over time we have come to think of confidence and ego as the same things. With this confusion around the notion of confidence we have learnt to believe certain things about what confidence is and the mindset associated with it. If we see it as having a big ego then it is understandable that we think someone who has a big ego might look confident.

The challenge is to remove the filters and glasses that support you in seeing people in this way and put on the new refreshing optimal vision glasses. Ego is lacking confidence and mental strength. At the moment when a person begins to lack confidence, they begin to feel doubt. They step outside of themselves to seek recognition. This is also the time when their ego appears.

Confidence looks like this: Open to new things; See your self as part of others; Grateful; Moving forward; Positively Energized; Acknowledging; Self loving and caring; and Strong and powerful and as Cesar Millan would say, “Calm assertive.”

Confidence is gained by many means. We feel confident when we achieve personal goals that are aligned with our values and beliefs. When we lack confidence we are indecisive and uncertain. We doubt ourselves. Making decisions makes us confident and develops a mental strength mindset. It is making a choice. We don’t need to make decision making difficult as there is no wrong or right, there are no absolutes. We learn from everything we do. In making a decision think about what is best for you at that moment. You will gain great insights from your intuition.

Use your inner strength and make the decision and move forward. Every step you take in moving forward will give great confidence and increase your personal power. Think of a young child as they take their first step. They hesitate initially, fearful of what might happen. Once they realize that nothing bad is going to happen they take another step, and then another. If you have observed this, you will know that their face starts to change from one of fear to uncertainty to intrigue to joy and then sheer excitement with lots of screams and giggles included. Adults standing by cheer them along. This boosts their confidence to take another step. Their support team is beside them, believing in them and celebrating their forward movement. They are achieving something new. There is no turning back now. They will keep practicing this skill and they continue to feel more and more confident. Their fears disappear to such an extent that parents sometimes have to grab them as they walk anywhere, over edges of balconies, etc. The sky is the limit for them. If a child never took their first step we would be concerned about them. We would think that perhaps there is something developmentally wrong with them.

So why don’t we apply this thinking to ourselves?

Moving forward and taking that first step can be a little nerve racking at times but once we move past this fear, the feeling is sheer joy and exhilaration. Think of what you look like when you reach your full potential and expand in your personal growth.

Now take the first step to achieving it. Trusting yourself is part of taking the first step. Trust your internal guidance system to take you to where you need to go, to achieve your life’s purpose.

Self love and Self management are a set of behaviors. Self love is the philosophy underpinning these behaviors. A confident person is comfortable in his or her own skin. They are comfortable with their values and therefore are able to live aligned to their values. They operate from a perspective of gratitude, love and personal power for the wonderful life they have been given.

By loving ourselves we give others permission to love themselves. Self love is a challenge and a journey. In the “crowded room of life”, our sense of self can be buffeted and rocked by the images, ideas and messages coming at us.

Unfortunately many of these messages either intentionally or unintentionally tell us that we are not good enough or that we are not worthy of being loved. Countering these messages to nurture self love requires mental strength and focus. We need personal goals and to plan and manage activities that build self love in the same way that we plan and manage anything that is important in our lives. Confidence comes from self love. When we go out of ourselves for recognition then ego steps in. To remain confident we need to believe in ourselves.

By practicing self management and nurturing self love, we are able to reframe our unhelpful perspectives and live within a good place. If you live from a good place, believing that all is right with the world, even with its problems – you will be able to live in peace because everything is fine the way it is. So here is the confidence equation.

Confidence = Self management

Self management = Self awareness + Self belief + Self love

Personal Power = Confidence

Reflection

Self care – Those of us who have ever travelled on a plane will be familiar with the safety warning that tells us that, in the event of an emergency, we should organize our own oxygen first before assisting others with theirs. Airlines all around the world give this message. They know that many people’s natural inclination will be to help others first, even if they have to go without life-giving air to do it!!

They also know that unless people look after their own safety first, they will be of no use to those around them. This is a useful metaphor for many aspects of our life. Unless we take care of ourselves, by making sure we have enough “oxygen” to sustain us, we are of little use to those around us.

This “oxygen” might consist of getting enough rest, maintaining a good diet, exercising, mental training and being aligned with our own values. When these things are in order, we operate in a space from which we can then comfortably give to others without becoming depleted ourselves. When management of the self goes out the window, doubt comes in the door. When our “oxygen” is low, we find it hard to maintain our re-framed perspectives and the old unhelpful perspectives start to rear their ugly heads once again. With peak human performance self management is not an option!

Self management activities should be planned, be part of your personal goals and turned into regular habits. If you have a problematic limiting belief in this area then gain support from a coach or friend. Ask him or her to support you in your self care. Through self care we gain self management. Through self management we gain self leadership. Through self leadership we feel confident, and with the mindset of confidence we can reach our peak personal performance.

Contemplation

Describe how you feel and look when you are confident. What would be the reason for trying to prove yourself to someone? What do you think you will look like and feel when you achieve your vision? Write down the steps you need to take to feel fully confident.

To be continued…

If you’d like to improve your mindset, confidence and personal performance grab a copy of, “Develop the Mental Strength of a Warrior” now. It will affect the way you think and act, so that you can live up to your ultimate personal power!

If you’d really like to make fast progress towards realizing your full personal power and develop the mindset of confidence, request your Introductory Consultation today!

OK…what are your thoughts about confidence and the ego? Please let me know in the comments below.

Mental Strength Tip #23 – Criticism vs. Advice (warriormindcoach.com)
Shared Thoughts on Personal Power (warriormindcoach.com)
You’re Going To Have To Face It, You’re Addicted To Thoughts (warriormindcoach.com)
Mental Strength Tip #24 – You Do Have A Choice (warriormindcoach.com)
Personal Power – Are You Really The Best You Can Be? (warriormindcoach.com)

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Mental Strength Tip #20 – Absolute Confidence for Personal Success

Mental Strength Coaching No Responses »

Dec 202010

Achieving peak personal performance and personal success begins with a mental strength mindset and empowering beliefs. Personal success starts in the mind and finishes with peak performance…taking massive action.

This is one in a series of mental strength tips to help start your week of strong so that you can reach you peak performance, personal success by enhancing your personal development.

I take one subject and run though a brief overview of it, then ask some very direct questions. The intention of these ‘sessions’ is for you to write the questions in a success journal reflect on them and answer them.

This series of posts is for YOU! If I’m not able to coach you personally one-on-one, I want you to at least get the benefit of “virtual” coaching.

Objective of this Mental Strength Tip:

To help you understand the power of acquiring and developing the mental strength attribute of absolute confidence in yourself. To achieve peak personal performance one must develop the belief that absolute self-confidence is a mindset created by thinking, felling and programming and not dependent on an external event or circumstance. When you develop absolute rock-solid confidence your external circumstances WILL change.

Let’s Get Started:

I’m wondering if you’ve ever noticed the difference between the language that an average personal uses and the language of a mentally strong individual. Thoughts and the language it produces has an immediate and critical impact on ones self-confidence. I’m sure you’ll start to notice now won’t you?

Questions to Uncover Beliefs about Mental Strength Thinking:

On a scale of 1 to 9, 9 being the highest, how self-confident are you?
Do you believe absolute confidence is something you’re born with or something you learn?
Who are the three most self-confident people you know and what do you feel created their confidence?

Unsupportive Beliefs about Self-Confidence

Confidence is something you’re born with. You either have it or you don’t.
Personal Success is the only thing that creates self-confidence.
Absolute self-confidence is arrogance, and people won’t like me if they think I’m arrogant.

Mental Strength Beliefs about Self-Confidence

Absolute self-confidence is self initiated and self created.
Self-confidence has nothing to do with whether you’re ‘winning’ or ‘loosing’. It’s resides on the inside…it’s a mindset.
Self-confidence is a decision you make about how YOU see yourself.

Outrageous Questions:

Would your three closest friends say you have absolute self-confidence?
Do your results reflect absolute self-confidence?
Dows your thinking, actions and habits really reflect absolute self-confidence?

Reflective Questions:

On a scale of 1 to 9, 9 being the highest, how would you rate your self-confidence?
What would it take for you to develop greater self-confidence?
What has contributed the most to the self-confidence you have now?

Mental Strength Coaching:

I encourage you to begin to monitor the way you use self-talk and what you say to others. Self talk is the single most powerful proactive reprogramming technique. Listen to mental strength programming CD’s and audios in the area of your life you need the biggest assistance. If it’s about money take a look at:

http://warriormindcoach.com/recommends/T-Harv-Eker.html

If it’s about weight loss here’s a great program:

http://www.warriormindcoach.com/blog/mental-strength-for-weight-loss-and-fitness/

Final Thought

If you’d like to get started on developing radical mental strength for personal development, personal empowerment or personal success request your Introductory Consultation.

Also, “Develop the Mental Strength of a Warrior” is a fantastic e-book that helps you develop awareness, consciousness and mental strength with a step-by-step plan.

OK…now it’s your turn! Let me know about your thoughts on this subject in the comments below.