Lack of Belief – Part 1
Over the years I have encountered a wide variety of problems in need of solutions with my clients. It’s hard to rank them in order, but one that would certainly be at or near the top would be a lack of belief. Whether it is a team or an individual that lacks belief in themselves, if this is not dealt with effectively the ceiling on their performance drops dramatically.
Have you ever wondered why teams or individuals that are winning late in their games or competitions often falter down the stretch? Most people think it is because the opponent is better, and finally awakens, or the other team gets tired. What I have found to be the case in most situations is that the one who is leading “thinks,” but does not truly BELIEVE, that they can win, and in doing so, plays down to their fears.
Meanwhile, their opponent either see’s the lack of belief in the other team’s body language, a crack in their armor so to speak, which makes them gain confidence and overtake them, or in other cases their opponent believes they will win all along and just keep pushing until those cracks begin to show and they proceed to take advantage of them.
In my experience 99% of these situations are caused by a mental breakdown, not a physical one. I call it the black cloud effect. As soon as things start to go wrong, people who do not have the requisite belief in themselves have the thought, “here we go again” This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. As soon as you allow that thought or a similar one (like “uh-oh”) to enter your mind, your confidence drops and you begin to make the physical mistakes that cause your worst fears to come true.
Conversely, a team or individual that has the belief they will win, knows that if they keep competing, eventually the other player or team will break and give them what they deserve: The victory!
I have worked with teams who would consistently lead in the second half of games and then fall apart. These teams were already putting in the necessary physical work, which made this an easy fix for me, as all I had to do to help them change the outcomes of those games, was to get them to trust themselves and their preparation. Soon after, those leads that turned into losses started to become wins.
I always like to say, “If you think you can or can’t you are probably right.”
You can follow Sam on Twitter @SuperTaoInc
