Dealing with a Lack of Confidence and Defeating Doubt- Part 1

Confidence and belief influence many areas of our lives on a daily basis. Conversely, so does a lack of confidence and doubt. 

This being stated, how does one build confidence and defeat the doubt that lingers in the mind? 

Whew... good question.

Through my 30 some years in competitive athletics (as an athlete and coach), I have picked up information that I feel might help answer the above question. I won't get into all the information or techniques I have learned and use, but I will address a couple that cover a lot of ground. In this particular post I want discuss one area that carries a lot of weight when it comes to dealing with confidence and doubt.

Preparation!

One of the most important factors in building confidence and negating doubt is Preparation. Let me use the sport of wrestling as an example in addressing preparation. When I was a competitive college wrestler preparation played a huge role in my confidence during competition.

As college athletes, we always worked our tails off in pre-season training. We would get into good shape by lifting weights and running five days per week. But, good shape is not wrestling shape! Wrestling shape is a beast unto itself (that's the nature of the sport) and requires a lot of actual mat time to achieve. Pre-season was good preparation, but it just wasn't enough for the requirements of the actual competition season.

Early in each wrestling competition season I would work hard, yet I wasn't in great wrestling shape. This in turn caused a lack of confidence during matches and created doubt in my mind. I would still perform well, but I wasn't performing at my highest level. Why? The answer is simple, lack of preparation breeds a lack of confidence and doubt. 

Here is the good news... As the season went on and I got into great wrestling shape, my confidence levels rose. This can be directly correlated with the amount of preparation that was taking place on the mats each day. As I prepared in practice, my confidence rose, doubt subsided, and I performed toward the top end of my ability. 

Preparation breeds confidence and belief. In other words... Preparation increases confidence and defeats doubt!

This lesson applies to many areas of our lives. In order to increase confidence and remove doubt in athletics, business, relationships, etc, we need to be willing to invest ourselves in the process of preparation. When we decide to make preparation an important part of our lives, then our confidence goes up, doubt fades, and we are able to perform tasks at the top of our ability levels. 

Coach Bear Bryant knew the importance of preparation very well...

"It's not the will to win that matters - everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters." -- Paul "Bear" Bryant

Stay tuned for part 2 of this series as I will share a technique to help increase confidence and remove doubt from your mind. Until next time...


God Bless,

Coach P

"Train from the inside out."