Confidence is a very solid predictor of high performance. High achievement comes easier to those who strive and work tirelessly to overcome the many challenges and frustrations of trying to achieve a perfect performance while remaining confident and trusting one’s mastery. The work needed to enhance self-confidence in a meaningful way draws from a very wide range of theories and treatment modalities. The aim is to achieve an “unbeatable mind” for both training and for competition.
One variable that is thought to impact performance confidence is a person’s sense of their own “self-efficacy” (Bandura, 1997). Bandura, a highly influential psychologist, defines self-efficacy as a set of beliefs that the person has about their own ability to achieve the goals that the person has in mind. Six sources of efficacy have been identified in the research literature: 1) past performance achievements; 2) verbal persuasion; 3) emotional arousal; 4) vicarious experiences; 5) visualized experiences. High achievement not only requires a sense of self-efficacy, but also an ongoing focus to enhance and maintain confidence.
Psychological Skills Training is highly effective at enhancing performance confidence and leads to better outcomes. We target 13 different areas of psychological functioning in addition to coaching our clients on the motivation for training, focus, and failure/distress tolerance.