Confidence is arguably one of the most important skills an everyday athlete can develop to perform successfully.

I say ‘skill’ because it can be learnt. It’s not a trait. Confidence is built.

In fact, mental performance wizard Ben Crowe has a formula for it:

🔋 Performance confidence =

🤾 Training (practice and preparation) +
🧠 Mindset (language and physical anchors)

“Performance confidence only comes to us after continued practice on our skillset, in whatever field that may be. That and the words you send to your mind during the moment of performing.” – Ben Crowe

What are (language and physical) anchors?

Anchors remind us of who we are when we’re at our best.

They can be words or physical actions that pull us into a performance-ready state.

Then how can we design useful anchors for ourselves?

The exercise Ben Crowe recommends doing is to:

• 🏆 Identify a time when you were at your best.
• 😃 How did you feel before and during that performance?
• ✍️ Can you describe those feelings in words? Calm? Strong? Confident?
• 👀 What did it look like? Chest out? Smiling?

Then create an anchor that reminds you of that feeling.

⚓ It could be repeating the words you’ve come up with: “I’m calm. I’m strong. I’m confident…”

⚓ It could be a deep breath, a powerful posture and a smile.

⚓ Dylan Alcott performs best when he puts things in perspective and soaks up the moment. So his performance anchor is to remind himself: “F*ck it. How good is this.”

“Our minds are a muscle. And they get stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger when you connect with the best version of you. It doesn’t mean that you’ll win. Look at the formula. Because you can’t control the outcome. But what it does guarantee, is that you’ll bring the best version of you to that performance.” – Ben Crowe

So here it is, the Performance Confidence OS:

1. All the practice and preparation we've done gives us the belief that we can execute when we need to
2. Then in the moment, we use anchors to pull us into a ready state‍

A reliable system for consistently delivering our best.