"They can conquer who believe they can"
The power of belief is astonishing, i am always inspired from the movie clip on this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vB59PkB0eQ&feature=related
Confidence is something that goes up and down fairly regularly. I am sure even Lebron James loses confidence in his jump shot or Tiger in his drives but having a deep rooted belief in yourself, your value, can be your fuel when you need to push yourself or face a challenge.I have asked athletes before...
If i could guarantee you to be the best player in the world at your sport, 100% its a done deal....how would you feel. As you can imagine they often really like the idea of that! However i then ask what if for that guarentee you would have to take a spoon and shovel manure out of my back yard for 4 hours a day for the next 8 years would you do it.....remember at the end of it you are guaranteed #1 in the world.
Most serious athletes say they would jump at the opportunity. If they would do that, why do they not push themselves everyday, every second in the sport they love, why do the not follow their nutritional plan or give it there all in the gym? When i ask that question the answer is usually......"there is no guarantee we will make it". Its that lack of belief in the outcome that makes them wander if the hard work is worth it.
Belief is an amazing thing, it empowers you to reach for the stars at one moment and then at the next it pushes you to do the most simple of tasks in front of you.
How strong is your belief, that of your althletes or employees? Do you have a strategy to develop in on an ongoing basis?
very interesting theme...and very broad.
ReplyDeletewhether you believe you can or you can't: you are right (Henry Ford)
Dealing with players, we all feel it's hard to let players understand that belief (and consequently confidence) is essential.
From my experience in coaching and also in reading about belief, earlier years of our life apparently shapes our belief more than we think. We are all inclined in developing self limiting concepts in ourselves. When we were little and free to learn we weren't aware of our mistakes (if we made them) up until our parents or people feedback made us realize it.
I mean if I kept falling while learning to walk and my mother would say "oh, clumsy, you'll never learn to walk" that would create a self limiting concept on my belief. Although thats a very extreme example (and bad feedback mother....), what I'm trying to say is that a lot of belief has to be reinforced also from parents and probably school teachers. we all know that training in a more positive environment develops better athletes, who are more self aware and learn quicker. Im not so sure parents and some school teachers are aware of it (asking kids how great is their motivation to learn in school.....)
The old triangle coach, parents, players (with players in center) is essential to trust. Do you think Larry, that parents should be more involved in mental/emotional training for their kids? apart from meetings at beginning of programmes to define the roles and the goals, how can we involve parents more towards kids sport and make them realize how their feedback help their kids confidence (and directly improving their belief)?
As far as training is concerned,setting realistic goals and optimal challenge are providing good tools to improve motivation and belief, so I strive to be creative and make players interested.
In order to achieve all that is demanded of us we must regard ourselves as greater than we are (J.W. v. Goethe)