Video transcript:
So I’m reading this book called The Confidence Gap by Russ Harris and it’s a fantastic book for anyone to read, athlete or non athlete, who struggles with self-confidence. And in the book he discusses this made up rule that we all seem to be following at times which is where our mind tells us, “Once I feel more confident I can do blank or once I feel less anxious or less worried or less afraid I can do blank.” He also brings up two different definitions of the word confidence. The first being, a feeling of certainty or assurance and the second being, an act of trust to reliance.
Now when we think of what it means to be confident I’d be willing to bet that most of us associate it with that first definition. That’s the one we assume to be true when our mind tells us, “When I feel more is the key to building stronger lasting confidence even if we don’t feel confident I’ll be able to do blank.” But I think understanding that second definition is the key to building stronger, lasting confidence. Even if we don’t feel confident, even if we feel anxious or worried about not getting the results we want, we can still take confident action. Our thoughts and our feelings do not control our actions. That’s what I mean when I say choosing courage is more important than feeling confident. Courage is just confident action.
When you find yourself in moments of self doubt or worry or anxiety in competition, find the smallest positive action that you can take in that moment. Commit your focus to doing that action. You’d be shocked to find that there is almost always something that you can do no matter how small. But when you stack those little positive actions, you’d be amazed at what you’re capable of, even when you don’t feel confident.