Patrick L. Mitchell

Confidence is king. So ‘they’ say.

At its core, confidence is the sum of your wins. You win the day, the meet, the presentation, the competition, and on it goes.

To be clear, winning necessitates competition. There IS a winner and a loser. You WILL be one or the other.

This is easy to reckon with when playing a sport or entering an artistic contest and the like. Generally, these things happen when we’re younger. Younger than what? Younger than the 41 that I am, that’s for sure.

But what about when those days are in the past? When the present feels like a hamster wheel of adult life, checking the boxes…going to bed at a reasonable hour, waking up, and repeating. Is there still competition?

MORE THAN EVER BEFORE

Competition is a Given

The competition is all around you.

Relationships. Finances. That next order of tacos standing between you and the last five pounds of your weight loss goal. Your mental and emotional well-being…

No matter the aspect of life you put in the crosshairs, anywhere you’ve set goals and intentions, there is an equally committed opponent seeking to defeat you. And like a true competitor, you gotta know how your competition is going to try to bring you down.

What are your weak points? Where are you vulnerable? If I’m going to lose, what would be the reason?

Dear friend, if you wake up and have a desire to achieve or accomplish something that day–or that week–that month, you are a competitor. Which means the competition is ready to go right off the bat.

And the reality is that if you don’t go for the W, someone or something else will. Someone else will go after your wife’s self-esteem. Someone else will say a nice thing to your husband that you overlook. Someone else will acknowledge the effort put into the work presentation, build them up, and eventually hire them away. Something else will spark an interest in your child’s imagination after you’ve pushed them off for game night the third time.

Competitors want the money, time, influence, the girl, the guy, the kid, the job, the body. You name what your care about and there is a competitor coming after you. BUT…

Your confidence will grow to the degree you defeat the competitor of the day. Shoot, not even the day, maybe the moment. You’re in a fight. And to build confidence requires wins. One win in a row, as the renowned philosopher Matthew McConaughey says it. One after another.

As you train, plan, and fight to win the moment.

That’s where confidence comes from.