Athletes like Kelly Slater, Ian Walsh, Shaun White, Tony Hawk, Travis Rice exude a crazy level of confidence. 

It's like they have a superpower, or super confidence, where it seems like they know they cannot fail. 

How can some athletes be born with this level of confidence while other athletes struggle with self-doubt and fear?

The answer: They are NOT born with it (confidence, that is). The just have a different definition of the word confidence and spent countless hours cultivating it. 

According to the Oxford Dictionary Confidence is defined as a feeling of self-assurance arising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities. 

The most important part of this definition is the "appreciation of one's own abilities and qualities."

So what ability and/or quality do top athletes have who appear confident?

It's their willingness to try and the hunger to learn from whatever the outcome is from their attempts.

Confidence is something that can be developed if we have the right mindset and motivation around what it takes to build it.

If we remove the part of our mindset and ego that fears failure because we do not want to look foolish in front of others, be judged, or be bad at something we open up the door to building skillsets and competency.  And compounded competency is a key factor that contributes to building confidence.

Confidence does not come from being certain that you will succeed or dominate, it comes from trying things we may not necessarily want to do or attempting things that may be a little scary at first. It comes from being willing to try, and to examine the outcome, whether good or bad, and see what we can learn from that experience, to build upon our learnings, to make our next effort that much better. 

Even the athletes that seem the most confident, are not 100% certain they will succeed, it is just they do not let the uncertainty stop them from trying. 

To build success as an athlete reframe your definition of confidence starting with these steps:

1. Get excited about failing. Embrace the mantra "failure is the fastest way to success" because when we fail we are given the opportunity to learn from the experience, examine what went right and what went wrong, and how we can improve it the next time, to build upon our competencies and skillsets. Remember, success and failure leaves clues! 

2. Nobody is 100% Certain.  Even the most accomplished athletes have a level of uncertainty. The difference is they do not let that uncertainty stop them from trying.  Employ the willpower to take consistent action to try. 

3. Baby Steps to Greatness.  Athletes can make huge strides by focusing on accomplishing baby steps. Setting small attainable goals that you can accomplish helps develop competency which leads to building confidence. Breaking down goals into small steps that can be successfully achieved is a sure fire way to improve the skillsets and abilities that will lead to achieving a greater more audacious goals. Again, helping to build your confidence as athlete. 

You have everything within you to build your confidence as an athlete. We believe in you. 

Author: Sue Izzo