“There have been times when I have failed. But there have never been times when I thought I would fail” – Michael Jordan

Have you ever gone out of your way to not take care of yourself? Does it ever seem like you’re working against yourself in a game? Do you ever ask yourself

“Why did I do that??” The expression “you are your own worst enemy” rings true for most of us.

How many times have we acted against our self-interest, then asked ourselves why did we self-destruct? Why did we say that to a loved one? Why did we procrastinate on practicing hard? Why have we stopped doing that one thing that makes us feel great? Self-sabotaging thoughts and behaviors are perpetuated by an inner critic we all possess, which sports psychologist for basketball, call the “critical inner voice.”

The critical inner voice doesn’t represent a positive sense of self that you can entrust in. Rather, it epitomizes a cruel “anti-self” a part inside us that is turned against us. It casts doubt on your abilities, undermines your desires, and convinces you to be paranoid and suspicious toward yourselves and those close to you.

This “anti-self” pervades your mind with critical self-analysis and self-sabotaging thoughts that lead us to hold back or steer away from our true goals in the basketball game. So how do you deal with your self-sabotage? By Building Confidence.

Self-defeating, self-sabotaging behaviors can be serious, like substance abuse, overeating, and even self-injury. There are also subtle little ways that you sabotage yourself and usual they aren’t necessarily associated with negative behavior.

Fearing change – Fearing change can be good or bad, depending on the situation. Whenever you’re starting with a new team, coach, or playing in a different gym, a part of you is going to resist the change. The goal is to recognize your self-sabotaging behaviors, build the confidence to deal with it, and then do something about it.

Fear of success – When people talk about fear of success, they’re really talking about fear of change. Your psychological barriers to change are deep-rooted in your brain’s operating system. We worry that success will turn us into different people.

Dwelling on too many options – That lead to decision paralysis. Options can freeze you up and make you worry about the paths you don’t take. You see this with high achievers all the time.

Research on basketball psychology shows that negative thinking is the linchpin responsible for setting off low self-esteem. It may be challenging to think about building your confidence and more so to find your voice when you have low self-esteem or believe that you have too many faults or failures.

People lose their voice when they give into circumstances, believing that life happens to them or they are just unlucky.

Over time they no longer feel confident about their potential, even if they were to experience accomplishments – the focus is on the negative aspects of their career.

There are several steps that can be taken to find your voice and reignite your basketball confidence.

Begin by taking inventory of your skills, talents, and achievements. For any aspect of your sports performance that needs further development, make a to-do list and create a plan of action.

It would be helpful to establish clearly defined goals as a means of developing a sense of purpose, along with a personal vision statement. All of these proactive strategies help you to create self-empowerment and that is how you develop your basketball mental toughness.

Building confidence isn’t something that will happen overnight. But it’s a trait worth pursuing, because it can help you meet life’s challenges with a ‘can-do’ attitude. Building Confidence can help you reach our goals on and off the court.

To build your confidence you must change the way you think.

A 100% of the time it is 90% mental.

Confidence is a mind-set skill that doesn’t just happen by chance. You must work at it.

To build your confidence, specific strategies are required. These strategies can be found in my workbook – An Athlete’s Guide to Peak Performance Series– Building Confidence

Go to www.sportspsychologybasketball.com. Click products and get started on Building Your Confidence with Sports Performance Top Mental Game Coach.