The biggest thing is to have a mind-set and a belief you can win every tournament going in.
—TIGER WOODS
When you believe in yourself and the people you surround yourself with, you will win something really big someday.
—DICK VERMEIL
During a practice round Tiger Woods turned to friend Davis Love III and said wishfully, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could play head-to-head down the stretch?” Two weeks later, competing in only his fifth professional tournament, Woods shot 8-under par 64 in the final round of the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational to finish in a tie for first place and force a sudden-death playoff. His opponent was Davis Love.
After the tournament ended on the first extra hole, a television announcer congratulated the twenty-year-old winner on his first PGA Tour victory and asked him if ever in his wildest dreams he imagined being so successful this early in his career.
I’ll always remember Tiger’s response. The three-time U.S. Amateur champion flashed his thousand-watt grin and replied, without hesitation, “Absolutely.”
Golf’s newest sensation wasn’t being cocky. Tiger was simply sharing the belief he has in himself.
Belief is a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing. Beliefs drive behavior, and behaviors affect performance in everything we do. When Tiger turned pro and said he expects to win every time—a mind-set he learned from Jack Nicklaus—PGA Tour veterans rolled their eyes. But it wasn’t long before Woods opened those eyes to the power of his belief system.
“You realize Tiger means it,” Tom Lehman said. “How does that affect me? It changes my mind-set. If I don’t expect to win every time, how can I expect to compete? I need to learn what he’s learned. I’d better trust in my talent. I’d better believe in myself under the gun. I’d better expect to win.”
In psychology, the term self-efficacy is the belief in one’s own ability to be successful. Simply believing in yourself doesn’t mean you’re always going to win. But believing in yourself can help enable you to put yourself into a position to win. Dick Vermeil is one who believed in himself and his players. At sixty-three, he coached the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl championship. Another coach, Penn State’s Joe Paterno, said, “You’ve got to believe deep inside yourself that you’re destined to do great things.”
One year the New York Mets climbed from sixth place to win the National League pennant. “Ya gotta believe!” pitcher Tug McGraw shouted during a clubhouse speech. His words became the motto the ’73 Mets carried into the World Series.
The University of Arkansas also enjoyed a successful run during that same era. One year, in celebration of a late-season victory that earned the Razorbacks an invitation to the Orange Bowl, happy Hog fans tossed oranges onto the field. The humor wasn’t lost on Lou Holtz. “I’m glad,” the Arkansas coach said after the game, “we’re not going to the Gator Bowl.”
But the Razorbacks’ giddiness gave way to gloom. In the Orange Bowl, Arkansas faced Oklahoma, the number-two team in the nation. The Sooners had lost only one game and were coming off a 38-7 rout of Nebraska. Arkansas was a smaller team. Its All-America guard was sidelined with an injury. Also, Holtz benched his top three offensive players for disciplinary reasons.
The media wrote Arkansas’s obituary in advance. The Razorbacks, 24-point underdogs, had no chance. Sensing his players were beginning to believe what they read in the newspapers, Holtz called a team meeting two days before the game. He asked his players why they thought they could win. One by one, each stood in the company of teammates and offered a reason. One player cited the Razorbacks’ staunch defense. Another reminded that the team’s nucleus remained intact. As they spoke, sharing their faith in each other, the atmosphere in the room changed.
Holtz privately told a friend that his team would score 38 points. He was overly optimistic, but not by much. Arkansas won, 31—6.
After the upset victory, a sportswriter remarked how spirited the Razorbacks appeared when they sprinted out of the tunnel and onto the field before kickoff. It looked like a cavalry charge. What had Holtz said to them? “I told them that Oklahoma is big, mean, strong, nasty, and aggressive,” Lou deadpanned. “And the last eleven guys out of the locker room are going to be the starters.”
Belief systems are a big part of confidence. Beliefs that are irrational or unrealistic lead to stress. Let’s look at the ABC theory of success and stress.
The A stands for the activating event. Tiger Woods enters the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. B is the belief about the event. Tiger tells himself, “I’ve retooled my game. I’ve worked hard. I know the course. I’m going to go out and have a good round.” C stands for consequences, the feelings and behaviors about the outcome. Tiger says, “I felt confident. I played aggressively and smart.”
There are several unrealistic or irrational beliefs some athletes have about themselves. Some think they aren’t big enough, strong enough, fast enough, or good enough to play at a certain level. My question to them is: “Where’s the evidence?” Some have a belief system that says failure is a shameful thing. In truth, life is based upon failures. If you don’t fail, you’re probably not challenging yourself enough. If, as babies, we had a fear of failure—if we believed that failure is terrible—we might never learn to walk. Another irrational belief is: “If I mess up, no one will love me. I’ll be rejected.” Imagine the pressure that kind of thinking creates. If you believe that by not winning you’re a loser, if you believe that if you lose no one will love you, if you believe that taking a risk is dangerous, if you believe that not being perfect is unacceptable, these beliefs will only cause upset and trouble in your life.
One way some athletes counter irrational beliefs is through positive affirmations. These affirmations should be powerful, positive, and in the present tense. Muhammad Ali was the master. “It’s a lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself,” Ali said. Also, “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.” With a smile in his voice, the former heavyweight champion, and boxing’s greatest showman, told himself and the world, “I’m so bad I make medicine sick!” Ali proclaimed that there were only two Greats in the world. “Britain and me.”
Rod Carew, one of baseball’s finest hitters, asked, “Do you believe you’re a starter or a bench warmer? Do you believe you’re an All-Star or an also-ran? If the answer to these questions is the latter, your play on the field will reflect it. But when you learn to shut off outside influences and believe in yourself, there is no telling how good a player you can be.”
In the cartoon strip, Dennis the Menace asks Santa Claus, “Do you believe in yourself?”
Ask yourself that question. What is your belief system? Do you believe in your dreams, your goals, and your abilities? Remember, what your mind can conceive and your heart believe, you can achieve.
Beliefs drive behaviors and self-limiting beliefs lead to self-defeating behaviors. Believe in yourself and your abilities.