Act like you’ve been there before. A proven way to enhance confidence.
Green Bay Packers tight end, Robert Tonyan, enjoyed a remarkable season in 2020, finishing the year with 11 touchdown receptions, tied for most in the NFL by a tight end. Tonyan, who only had 11 catches the year before, credits his teammate Davante Adams for helping him find the confidence needed to become one of the top players at his position.
According to Tonyan, “That guy (Adams), he’s just always drilled into me that you need to believe in yourself and that you should never set any limits on what you can do. He’s taught me to develop and harness that … I guess you would call it raw confidence, or inner belief that all great athletes possess. One week in Atlanta, when Davante was out and I had that big game on Monday night, the first thing he did afterward was pull me aside in the weight room and tell me, in no uncertain terms, that when he got back on the field he wanted to see me acting exactly like I did that night against the Falcons. Not playing like I did … acting like I did. I didn’t really get it at first, so I asked him what he meant. ‘Acting like you were unstoppable,’ he said, ‘like no one on the planet could stick with you. Knowing that you had reached another level.’”
Adams, one of the best players in the NFL himself, also appears to know his sport psychology! In fact, one of the most tried and true ways to enhance confidence is to close your eyes and recall a few of your past performances in which you played great or to relive your all-time best performance. Creating your own personal highlight reel is a great way to build the case that you have done it before and can do it again. When practicing imagery, remembering the past is key, but also make sure to forecast your future. With your eyes still closed, picture yourself performing exactly the way you want to in your next game or competition. This is a simple, effective and proven method to foster confidence. It is the first step in achieving anything and probably the most critical aspect to getting into “the zone” or achieving flow (the most optimal state a human can be in).
Coach Nelson holds a doctorate in sport and performance psychology and currently serves as a high school football coach. He has worked for multiple professional sport franchises, a Fortune 100 Company, a division 1 athletic departments and has won numerous awards for his LEADership abilities.
His mission is to positively influence the world through Love, Effort, Attitude and Discipline (#LEAD). To learn more about the LEAD philosophy follow him on Twitter Levi Nelson or reach out via email at rln10@zips.uakron.edu He’d love to learn about or help you in your journey!
PCA: https://www.positivecoach.org/team/nelson-levi/
This following editorial in The Players Tribune was used in this post: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/green-bay-packers-robert-tonyan-jr-football
