“You’re never playing an opponent, you’re only really playing against yourself.”
~Arthur Ashe

After 9+ years of working with athletes from all over the world on the ‘inner game’, I can tell you that quote is as true as true can be.

Before we go any further I’m going to make a few assumptions:

1. You have a love for the sport you play,
2. You feel like you have more potential than your results show,
3. You battle with worrying about things you can’t control and no matter how hard you practice you can’t seem to shake the negativity.

Well, I’m going to show you a few things today.

First, where doubt and fear come from. This is important because you’ll have a new way of looking at it, so it’s not the big scary beast that stops you from reaching new heights. Second, the mistakes you’re making that cause fear. And, third, some tips you can start using today, so you’ll begin to become the player you’re meant to be.

So let’s get started.

What is Fear?

Fear is actually an emotion that was originally meant to protect us. You see, thousands of years ago it was just us wandering the fields, plains and mountains of the wild, wide-open world. It was us against nature. Man vs. beast.

Fear is also known as “fight or flight”. It’s that automatic response that stops us from doing physical harm to ourselves or helps us fight back when we’re being attacked.

Fear is in the ‘reptilian’ part of our brain. This is the oldest part of our brain and the part that was originally developed tens of thousands of years ago.

Additionally, when you are experiencing fear, or fight or flight mode, all your blood is redirected to the parts that are needed for fight or flight‚ your heart, lungs, muscles, and reptilian brain. The rest of your brain is left with only enough blood to keep it on idle, which means that you have no cabability for rational or creative thought. It’s all

• black or white,
• yes or no,
• fight or flight
• good or evil.

In this state you don’t have the ability to think of alternative solutions to the situation. Only your two choices run or fight.

The problem. We don’t really need it as much as we used to.  When was the last time you needed to outrun a sabre-toothed tiger or herd of rumbling mammoths? It’s probably been a while!

But, back in the day, these were things our ancestors were faced with daily. So we needed that ‘fear’ or primitive brain to keep us alive.

Today though‚ you and I enjoy air-conditioned vehicles, stores with everything we’d ever need to survive and recreational activities to enjoy and add pleasure to life.

So, because the reptilian brain isn’t being worked over like it used to‚Ķ it tries to find other ways to be useful, which ends up causing us to fear things we have no need to fear.

Think about it. Should you REALLY fear taking the last second shot in a tight basketball game!? Of course not! It’s not life or death. But that tricky little reptile part of our brain tries to kick in.  And, than we justify that feeling of fear by telling ourselves that there must be something wrong with us, so I better not take the shot.

3 Big Mistakes Athletes Make That Cause Fear

1. Focusing on negative repercussions.
   • This builds the fortress of fear and prevents the creative part of our mind from coming up with solutions. It also causes negative emotions to bubble up which paralyzes our ability to perform… NOT GOOD!
2. Talking to people that don’t believe in your goals or are negative.
   • Sharing our hopes and dreams with people that aren’t supportive is a fantastic way to crush any positive momentum we’ve built up towards the achievement of our goals. So be very careful who you hang around with.
3. Not doing things daily or weekly that continuously push your comfort zone.
   • A person that sits around dreaming and wishing for success without ever taking bold daily action to improving themselves, will be left in the dust by people with less talent but the will to improve.

Any of these three things will cause fear and doubt to build up in the mind of anyone… so avoid them at all cost! (Luckily I have a few tips for you, that you can do today to help build your confidence.)

The Secret Key…

The real key to overcoming self-doubt, fear and procrastination is something most people don’t think of—understand ‘meaning’.

What do I mean by ‘meaning’? Meaning is the definition you give to an event, thing or person. Example: If the LA Lakers win. What does that mean to you? Do you love it, hate it or are you completely indifferent and don’t really care?

‘Meaning’, is everything in the brain. The brain is constantly asking and answering questions. And most of those questions go something like this – “What does this mean to me?”

You show up for the first day of training camp and your brain immediately starts scanning your surroundings, including the coaches and players, sizing everyone up.

It’s at this moment your brain is asking, ‘what does this mean’, and depending on how you define everyone and everything around you, it could either be a negative or positive experience.

For example, if I were to step out into that environment and immediately start classifying other players as better than me or judging coaches as unfriendly.  I’d set off a cascade of fear response in my body which would hinder my ability to focus, relax and ultimately perform.  All because I attached ‘meaning’ to the people and environment I was in… not because I was actually a good enough player.

Most of the athletes I coach at the professional level, that are entering a combine or the league for the first time, I train them using a special ‘Performance Protocol’ to ensure they’re best performance comes pouring out of them.  [If you’re interested in learning more, I go over it in The Champions Challenge Program.]

They perform well because we change the meaning of the experience.  It’s allllll about thinking ahead… which I’ll get to in a minute.

Time To Get Excited…

Anytime I’m confronted with something that is going to be putting me in a position of possibly making a mistake, failing or trying something new. I get excited.

And here’s why.

My entire life is centered around 3 things:

• Learning,
• Growing, and
• New Experiences.

And, because I know that the only way I can learn, grow and enjoy new experiences is by trying things that I could fail at, I start to get excited about them.

Let me give you an example.

A few years ago I was approached by the Indonesian Government about coming over to Jakarta to do a workshop on leadership and communication. I’d never been to Indonesia and I love to travel, so I jumped at the opportunity.

The problem. The people that would be attending barely new any English. So I’d have to spend 2 weeks speaking incredibly slowly, so I didn’t go too fast for their comprehension. I was starting to doubt whether I’d be able to deliver the content I needed to, so they would get value out of the workshop.

Because I was going to be speaking sooooo slowly, I wouldn’t be able to get through the amount of material I normally would. Plus I found out, the Indonesians like to take a lot of breaks during workshops. So now I would have even less time.

But I decided that this would be a great chance to strip out all the information that wasn’t going to be the highest impact and only deliver the best of the best.

Result: The government was so thrilled with what I did, they awarded me the Rama Award for Exceptional Leadership and Vision. I received an amazing sculpture from the country, which reminds me every day what can be achieved when you maintain a positive attitude.

3 Things You Can Do Today To Build Confidence

1. Write down all of your successes.Grab a notebook, journal or sheets of paper (preferably a fresh new notebook or journal). Split your life up into 3 or 5 year intervals and write out everything you accomplished, achieved or learned how to do in those various 3 to 5 year segments of your life. And, DON’T over-simplify! Think about it‚Ķ in your first 3 years of life you learned how to walk, eat, run, talk and on and on. All of those things take exceptional discipline.Continue to do this for all the years of your life‚Ķ when you get done you should have a nice long list of things you’ve achieved, which should build your confidence and prove to you that when you set your mind to something you can do anything.The CEO of Levi’s, the huge jeans brand, has a journal on his desk with all of his achievements in it. And, when he’s faced with a daunting challenge or tough decision, he takes out his journal, sits back and reads it. After he’s done, he feels like he can do anything and moves on with his decision. 
2. Visualize Your Success. The mind will always move in the direction of it’s most dominant thought. So, if you’re always visualizing youself being successful at a particular skill or endeavour – the mind is forced to help create that reality for you.So every night before you go to bed, visualize yourself running down the court with 5 seconds remaining, dodging defenders, stopping at the 3-point line and draining a ‘nothin but net’ basket. Than bask in the amazing feeling that event would give you. The more you do this. The more your mind will get the idea that’s the way life is supposed to be.Than if you’re ever in that situation, it will feel completely natural for you to do it. All great players are phenomenal at visualization. So start now, and make it a habit. 
3. Collect Cheerleaders.I don’t actually mean real Cheerleaders. I mean start to hang around with people that are supportive and want you to succeed. And, the great thing about the web is it’s easier than ever to find coaches, mentors and positive people to learn from.If you had 5 people you surrounded yourself with that were always telling you, ‘you could do it’, or keep working hard because I’m seeing some real improvements- do you think that would help to strip away some of the doubt or fear that creeps into your head? Absolutely!And, the great thing is‚ you’ve already found one with myself!

Just to recap:

• We learned fear comes from a very old primitive part of our brain that we don’t really have much use for today.

• If you change the meaning of how you interpret the events or things around you, you can change the feeling you have about it.

• And, we learned there are things you can do today to help make positive changes in your game and life.

Be Bold. Take Action.

Todd Herman