Confidence is key
FOLLOWING on in my series of frequently asked questions I have once again checked out my inbox. On answering ‘what is your biggest mind challenge’ there are often just three words written down: lack of confidence. So this month I am concentrating on identifying exactly what confidence is. How do we get it? How do we keep it? And how do we find it again if we lose it?
Many golfers, both amateurs and professionals, find it to hard to stay confident throughout 18 holes.
It is usually not the physical playing skills that can let a golfer down but the mental strength required when it comes to pressure shots. It also often only takes a negative comment from a fellow player or a moment of adversity to encourage the sub-conscious mind to give up.
Negativity may seem an easier route in the short term, but in the longer term it wastes a whole lot of energy and it is also 100 per cent effective. There is no way confidence can survive in an environment of a negative mind-set. The great news is that confidence is a skill like any other. So what can you do to tap into your inner confidence if this indeed is a skill that can be learned and controlled?
First, you need to listen to what you are saying to yourself. Replace a can’t-do thought process with a can-do mentality. The confident person sees where they want to go in life the same way the confident golfer sees where they want the ball to go. Always focus towards your goal as your actions will follow what you last visualised. Remember that important saying: “You become what you think about most of the time.”
If you ask any successful person or golfer about their secret to success you are unlikely to receive a negative response.
Successful people and golfers whose dreams, and indeed livelihoods, depend on tapping into their most confident selves understand the importance of staying focused. A successful person will have high self-esteem and a strong belief in their abilities. An ability to see, or visualise, exactly what you want to make happen will help your sub-conscious to support you in searching for the facts. Confidence is all about seeing what you want to achieve in your mind’s eye and going for it no matter what.
How do you stay confident? Your secret weapon is to be careful how you speak to yourself. Talk to yourself as though you are advising your best friend. Be positive, encouraging and always see yourself moving towards your goals. Confidence may come and go, but it is your choice to believe in yourself and your abilities that will support how confident you actually feel. If you do find you have a loss of confidence during a round then remember that you owe it to yourself to learn how to speak positively to yourself at all times. Focus towards your goals and you will be able to tap into your inner confidence and create the success you seek.
TIP: Motivation is really helped by creating goals whether your goal is to spend some time on reducing your putting average or a bigger goal of reducing your handicap. Plans made in your head rarely happen. So write down your goals and commit to a date. Give yourself milestones and celebrate when you have made them a reality. Finally, become the golfer you want to be and do not settle for anything less.