Building Unstoppable Confidence

Confidence is so important to our success I have decided to do at least a 3 part series.

What can we do to build Unstoppable Confidence?

A different approach to building confidence is taken from behavioral theorists (a major branch of psychology).

It may be common sense that the body listens to the mind. If we start to have thoughts like, “I am not good enough,” the body will probably start sweating, your heart will start racing etc. But what may not be such common sense is that the mind also listens to the body. Indeed, after seeing one’s body sweat and feeling one’s own heart race, the mind will look at this and decide, “I must be nervous because my body looks nervous.” This will make a person even more nervous than they were originally!

How do we stop the cycle?

We do not need to be Confident, we must simply ACT CONFIDENT! Muhammad Ali was the master of this. He said he was scared to death before every fight. He did not appear this way though because he ACTED CONFIDENT. He moved confident, he spoke confident, etc. When he or anyone else does this, your mind sees your body’s actions and decides, you must really be confident.

Can you be happy right now? Maybe, maybe not.
Can you think happy thoughts right now? Again, maybe, maybe not.
Can you smile? YES, anyone can smile. And studies show that we smile when we are happy and also WHEN WE SMILE- WE FEEL HAPPIER.
Apply this to Confidence. ACT AS IF, even if you do not feel this way. Fake it till you make it. Better still- fake it till you feel it!
(Dr. Gilbert)

Tony Robbins gives this exercise- Get yourself upset, or mad, or in some negative mood and then make a Big Smile and Look up in the air. You cannot stay mad, because you are sending your mind mixed signals. This will at very least break the cycle we spoke of earlier.

* Know in advance what Confidence looks like. What do you look like when you are confident? How do you move? How do you speak? How do you hold your head? What gestures go with your confident feeling? When you get this feeling of confidence remember how you look so you can make yourself do these same things when you need to be confident in the future. Practice doing this a lot before competition. As always, you do not want to practice for the first time before a competition. You want to get this look down.

* If you do not know how you look when you are confident, look at other people who you perceive as confident and watch how they move, walk, talk, hold their head, gestures, etc. and DO THAT. This will remind you of Confidence and you doing this will in turn make you feel confident. Your body moving around confidently will remind your mind to feel CONFIDENT.

*Add a gesture (or cue) every time you practice ACTING CONFIDENTLY. This will strengthen the connection between you mind and body so you will feel maximally confident when you need it most.

Gene Zannetti
Author Wrestling Mindset “Go From Practice Wrestler to Gamer”