Confidence

"They are able because they think they are able." Virgil

"To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence." Mark Twain

I have often marvelled at how ordinary many successful people are. Take David Beckham. Not the stuff of greatness in my book but nonetheless hugely successful in sport and fame. I'm interested in sport here.

As all football fans will know, the man has some significant strengths - crossing, passing, stamina but he has a notable gap in his repertoire. He can't seriously run with the ball because he is slow and even immobile. So, there's no dazzling runs from him. Just plain passing. Accurate but plain.

In a game with much to do with sprinting, how has Beckham climbed such dizzying heights. He's earned moves to the world's biggest football clubs, earned millions and continues to enjoy success on the football pitch. To answer, I leave aside the esoteric elements of propaganda and hype and focus on Beckham's biggest mental strength, his confidence.

It is, in my opinion, Beckham's dazzling and durable confidence that makes him what he is. It sets him apart from Liam Lawrence, Darren Ambrose and David Bentley - all footballers with comparable objective football attributes to Becks. But Beckham expects to make the grade alongside superstars and believes he is amongst the best. The goal will go in, the pass will find the forward.

How and where he got this confidence is a question for the psychologists. It's a priceless thing - especially when matched with tireless work-rate. It makes the world of difference. There are so many hugely successful footballers who, on objective analysis, do not boast mesmeric ability, Gary Neville and Michael Owen to name another two. Their exceptional self-confidence differentiates themselves and enables them to reach great heights. Objectively, there is often little technical ability difference between a Premier League player and lower league footballer. The advantage is held in the head of the Premier league footballer. The lower league player, perhaps very gifted, does not BELIEVE that he is gifted, he feels inferior, worries about his capacity and therefore will never reach the heights of the confident.

Confidence is such a vital ingredient to achievement - in fact, the vital ingredient. Without confidence, you are suffocated by fear and worry which hinders most progress. You don't see the wider picture, you don't take that risky step, you can't perform the basics. All because you are wracked by debilitating fear of failure. The easiest tasks become enormously difficult. Fear breeds more damaging fear.

Confidence is about ignoring possibility of failure. Thus, it can be said that confidence is about being ignorant - intentionally or otherwise. If you do not care for your reputation, you are likely to be more confident. When you are unaware of the consequences, you concentrate on the task.

However, confidence in ignorance can make you selfish and ruthless. Is it possible to be humble, accepting your own limitations, but still be confident?

Maybe, there is a higher plane of self-belief, beyond being confident and ignorant. To accept that failure and success are facts of life and that life is to be appreciated, is to be rise above fear of failure without ignoring it.

If we fully understand failure, rather than ignore it, we are many times more confident. We get the best of both worlds. We are guided by the foreseeable consequences of our actions but we also accept that those consequences, whilst to be taken into consideration in our decision-making, cannot always be controlled. If we have lived according to our maxims of appreciating life (including other people) the consequences are not our problem. We have done all we can. We become free, empowered to live our lives without the trenchant fear of consequences.


My problem is that I am in a thrall to fear and its kaleidescope of consequences. It makes doing simple things difficult. I am a sort of Ade Akinbiyi or Emile Heskey - lack of belief in my ability defines my success and prevents the achievements that are out there. (That said, those guys do have more self-confidence than most to get to the top levels of English football - so the comparison is perhaps inappropriate - maybe I should go for....Gary Tomkigo (a guy, fictional, who never made it after being released by Slough United FC. Now blogs).

Somehow or other, I have to let go. Focus on making the right decisions for the right reasons (appreciating life) and let everything else go.

Easier said, written, blogged than done. ; )

Footy fatigian

@ footyfatigue@blogspot.com