Mastering Mental Toughness: Overcoming Self-Doubt for Baseball Players

The term will most often is used in outlining the desires of a person who has passed away and left this world. A will, in this form, is a legal document that will affect those people who are left behind and the distribution of property. When you think of a person’s last will and testament, you relate to it with the finality that it will have.

As a player and a person, high achievers realize that they have the ability to make such a long-lasting decision decades before they leave this world. Superior athletes make a commitment to their success by never allowing the seed of self-doubt to take root. They refuse to give in to the self-destructive power of fear that will try to enter into their mind.

Ask any successful athlete and they will tell you that they made a decision, at some point long ago, that they would never allow anyone or anything to stand in the way of their success. They recognize that success and failure is determined in the long run by the strength of your will and conviction to hang on when others bailout.

Losers….
Are paralyzed by fear.
Buy the lies self-doubt sells.
Can’t decide.
Are scared of failing.
Believe failure has a long shelf life.
Posses an outlook of desperation.
Feel comfortable feeling uncomfortable

Winners….
Manage and control fear.
Challenge self-doubt and expose it to be false.
Have a game plan.
Know every success if preceded by failure.
Know failure is momentary, then prepare for success.
See unlimited possibilities and opportunities.
Stand up, brush off, and move on.

Look at every item in the losers column. All of these are things that a person allows to happen to them or are things that do happen to them due to the lack of activity. Winners move forward at a consistent pace. Even during a setback, winners control their thoughts and actions and do not allow someone or something else to control them.

When self-doubt and discouragement knock on the door, losers not only open the door and let them in, they get them something to eat, prop their feet up, and sit waiting to be told what to do.

Winners, on the other hand, will say hello to self-doubt and discouragement, reach out and grab it by the throat and choke the life out of it. Winners know that when they stand up to self-doubt and discouragement, as soon as they begin to choke the life out of it, the self-doubt and discouragement vanishes into thin air. Having cleaned house of all the bad thoughts, winners can then move forward towards their bigger goals.

This power to control self-doubt and discouragement is called “will.” Your “will” is either weak or strong — you decide. You control your will. It is the foundation of any success.

Imagine what would happen to your success rate if you knew that you would never quit, stop, slow down, or turn your focus away from your task. No matter how many setbacks you encounter, you would continue to press on. The unbelievable strength that you would gain would allow you to move past hurdles that eliminate most people.

You then become bigger, stronger, and mentally superior to your challenge. Understand that your greatest challenge will not be the pitcher you face, or the batter you are trying to get out. Those things are simply your latest tests, tests that are quick to face and move on. No, your challenge is with yourself. There is always an enemy pounding on you — will.

Only you decide whether to “fight” for your goals or simply “roll over.”