I’ve always believed no matter how many shots I miss, I’m going to make the next one.” Isiah Thomas (USA Basketball star)

Step 1 Your Thoughts about yourself

Higher level of achievement

Not one person achieves every goal they set, but one thing is guaranteed: an individual who has a belief in their own abilities and their processes will always succeed to a higher level than someone who does not. A basic belief that you will succeed is essential. This self-belief grows as you progress through different levels and achieve results.

• No person can believe in himself without achieving victories.

• In order to have faith in yourself, it is imperative that achievable goals are set.

• Consistently competing out of one’s depth is a belief killer. 

When is belief born?

True self-belief develops over time when it becomes obvious why you are winning, which is linked directly to your practice and faith in your processes to improve. It is born of a great intent to defeat opponents with your weapons and the knowledge that you can consistently rely on these weapons, a confidence gained through competence. When this occurs, opponents fear the commitment behind the weapons as much as the weapons themselves and think about their own weaknesses in defending against these strengths. 

When champions say they cannot believe they have won a major event, what they are often saying is that they cannot believe how soon it has happened or that what they have always believed has finally happened! The fundamental belief that they could attain this goal was settled many years beforehand. When they consistently perform with quality, they win, so breakthroughs are rarely a major surprise. 

An Example - Andy Murray

Andy Murray is an example of a player who always believed in himself. He never had a problem visualising himself competing at the highest level, so it was really no surprise to him when he got there. He always believed in himself as a tennis player – this has been a key reason for his consistent success over the years, through the junior ranks and now on the Tour. His success confirms his self-belief, so he becomes even more successful.

• Self- belief and success enhance each other.

• If you believe in yourself, you are more likely to succeed;

• If you succeed, you are more able to justify your self-belief and so on 

But it is more than belief alone!

Step 2 The process

However, even champions have to go through and believe in a process. They too must refine skills and gain the maturity to express their self-belief in a way that is powerful enough to win at the highest level. 

An Example - Tim Henman

Here is an example of Tim Henman realising his coming of age as a player. 

“When I beat the French Open champion, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, at Wimbledon (1996) in my first match on Centre Court, on the court that I’d always dreamed of playing on, saving two match points, and winning in five sets, it changed my life forever. When I walked back into the locker room after that match, the other players looked at me differently and the respect was there. It is the day my Locker Room Power was established amongst the elite”. 

 

Positive energy

If you know that self-belief is just a decision to play point by point as hard as you can from the beginning to the end of the contest with enthusiasm (positive energy) whether you win or lose, then you will have an advantage because you will remain focused on the task at hand throughout the course of a match. 

The Task at hand

The difference between the high achievers and the also-rans is not their work ethic or talents, but their self-belief in themselves and the process. They quickly understand that great competitors focus on the task at hand, which is always striving to be better, and the way you accomplish this is to stay in the present and fight in each moment.

“My greatest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match. However down I am, I fight until the last ball. My list of matches shows that I have turned many so-called irretrievable defeats into victories.” Bjorn Borg.

Most of us have two jobs in our quest for success 

• The job of learning how to believe

• The job of getting better at what we do. 

The champion has only one job 

• The job of getting better. 

You don’t have to be good at winning

A champion has learnt to believe regardless of wins or loses, while most of us fall into the trap of thinking we have to be good and winning before we can believe in ourselves. The secret is that if you believe in yourself and lose, your only job is to keep getting better and when you are good enough, lack of self-belief will not prevent you from winning! 

The urban myth is that if you believe in yourself and try hard enough, ultimately that will be enough to win. However, you cannot control whether you win, but you can have a mindset hell bent on getting good enough and giving yourself increasing competency and therefore a growing opportunity to win. 

100% belief

The key is to compete from the beginning to the end of a match with 100% belief in winning and only when the last point is won or lost, accept the contest over. The trick is to compete with a belief that you can win, even when you can’t!

If you lose, you can then analyse what needs to be done better, so the next time you will be better and tougher. Trust the process that when you are good enough, you will win.

An example - Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton sums it up perfectly after losing the lead in the 2010 world driver’s championships at Monza after crashing out in an ill feted attempt to pass Felipe Massa. Hamilton commented in his press conference following the event that, 

“In bad situations you soak up all the lessons that need learning,” he said. “You absorb that information, put the bad experiences to one side, use the benefits and move on.” Lewis Hamilton


By focusing on the task at hand instead of the result, you eliminate feelings of fear (e.g., ‘I’ve got to win this game or else’). It has been said many times, but it is the process that matters, not the results. If the process is right, then the results will follow. 

Step 3 No assumptions

It’s a case of interpretation

Being a powerful person is looking at the cards you have been dealt and deciding to add up all the positive cards you hold. This is often just a change of how you interpret the strengths and weaknesses of these cards.

The Twins

For instance, the story of twin brothers whose alcoholic father had been imprisoned for murder exemplifies this point. Each brother had had the same upbringing and had to face the same circumstances of a father in prison – one brother saw the circumstances of his father as a warning and became a successful lawyer; the other unfortunately saw the course of his father’s events as an example of a life he would follow, ending up in prison like his father. When asked why they turned out the way they did, both brothers gave the same answer; ‘With a father like mine, what do you expect?’ Each brother dealt with the same circumstances in a unique way. 

The Classic Error

You hold a greater number of powerful cards than you think and often more than your opponent. A classic error is to assume your opponent is better prepared, mentally tougher, or indeed better than you, with little evidence other than your perception and imagination.

Typical Example

A typical example of this is when you first glimpse at your opponent and he or she looks threateningly tall or fit.

• Your mind instantly sends out warning signals of danger.

• You quickly need to replace these signals with rational thoughts about the actual information you know and that which you are assuming.

• Use positive thoughts about your own game and the strengths you have and see the entire process as a challenge to see how good you and the opponent are in the reality of a match.

• If you believe in the work you have done, you will be confident about playing your cards and seeing how it all unfolds before you make judgment. 

Don’t be a victim

You may well be surprised how powerful you are and how weak your opponent might be. Win or lose no matter your circumstances, you cannot afford to allow yourself to be a victim of yours or anyone else’s assumptions! 

In conclusion

No matter your background story, you must be determined to bring what you got to the table – the choice is stark in its simplicity. Bring your best and always have a chance. 

Written by

David Sammel