What is the difference between Damian Lillard’s Confidence, and Paul George’s?
Now, personally, I love PG’s (surface) game:
I think he’s one of the most complete players in the world, right now.
The only problem is…
You never know which version of PG is gonna show up.
When he’s playing well, others are praising him, and he’s feeling pumped up (remember the three triggers we talked about on Friday — Success, Validation and Judgement)…
…He transforms into Playoff P, the ultra-Confident two-way monster that is almost impossible to match up against.
But when he’s not playing well and the fans and media begin trolling him…
He mentally collapses and shrinks down into Pandemic P, his shaky, unstable, un-Confident alter-ego:
And the big question the basketball world has been asking for over a year now is…
…Why?
Well after Friday’s lesson, we can see that Paul George is relying almost entirely on:
Outer Confidence
Confidence that is triggered by factors outside of ourselves.
Factors like success (playing well), validation (being praised), and judgement (telling ourselves we’re better than the players around us).
Dame, on the other hand, might have the strongest Inner Confidence in the NBA today:
Here’s how we’ll define it…
Inner Confidence:
Confidence that is generated entirely from within ourselves.
Even when Dame is playing poorly (Success), he knows it’s only a matter of time until he turns it around.
If he’s missed his last two game winners, he’s still going to demand the ball for a third — and, he’ll probably hit it, too.
No matter what anyone else is saying about him (Validation), he remains unshakeable.
Hate doesn’t touch him, and even praise matters very little — because he knows his own worth (nobody needs to tell him).
And you can be sure he’s not talking himself up in his own mind, trying to convince himself of how great he is (Judgement).
After all:
True Inner Confidence doesn’t need to convince itself that it’s Confident.
(nobody needs to be convinced that the sky is blue — it’s obvious)
That’s why the great ones don’t need cheesy “positive self-talk” — don’t need praise from others — aren’t affected by hate or trolling — and step up to every challenge, no matter how well they’re playing.
And that is the type of Confidence we’re going to develop in you, this week…
…Confidence that is, well.. Invincible.
When you develop Confidence the way we’re about to learn, outside forces like success, validation and judgement can’t touch you…
…And so, you become a rock-solid, unshakeable force of Confidence everywhere you go.
Will Smith once put it like this:
“Everywhere I go in the world, I feel like I’m at home.”
That, my man, is true Inner Confidence.
When you finally develop this, it feels as though the world has been transformed from black and white into vibrant, living color:
Every moment of every day feels deeper and more profound.
You know who you are, what you stand for, and what you won’t stand for.
And, even in your most challenging moments, you feel an unwavering, untouchable belief in yourself to handle every situation life throws your way.
Tomorrow, we’ll dive deep into exactly how to develop this type of Inner Confidence…
…But first, I’m curious:
Who else (besides Dame) do you think has true Inner Confidence?
Hit reply to let me know, and I’ll see you back here bright and early tomorrow morning 🙂
Have an amazing Monday.
You deserve it
– Coach T