Food for your mind : CONFIDENCE

Meet Terry, a high-school freshman who wanted to tryout for the boy's basketball team. He was the last guy you would wanna pick on your team. He had no ball-handle, no speed, missed most of his shots, and could not jump for anything. When he tried out, the coach told him, "Forget about basketball, try chess". Now Terry was a very confident kid who had it in his mind he would be not only make the team but be better than everyone on the team. He looked at the list to see if he made the team. Not even close. He was upset, but he knew that he had three more years to make the team and that's when he trained. When the team had practice he would watch. After they practiced he would take shots. Mostly misses. He practiced dribbling. Kept losing the ball. Frustrated but not giving up he came up with a strategy. For one year, he would dribble his ball everywhere. He would watch the great dribblers in the NBA and NCAA. He would pay attention how they shot and how they dribbled. On the court, he would play the best players. Putting himself at a disadvantage by playing one-on-two. They treated him like he wasn't even there. They beat him so bad that it was embarrassing. He didn't see it that way. He saw it as dragging a heavy weight until that heavy weight felt weightless. He played everyday and got beat everyday. He fine-tuned his game and repeated. This went on for one year.

Basketball tryouts was starting in one week. He made sure he didn't miss the chance to sign up. He played against the people that made the team the previous year. He would play one-on-twos. They would laugh at him because he was getting destroyed and tired. He still kept the "heavy weight" mentality. During tryouts, he was the fastest on defense. His defense was like a wall--hard to go through. His ball-handle was smooth. He was able to go through people with ease. His shots were dropping like rain drops in a barrel. The final day he went to the wall to see if his name was on the list. He made it! Not only made it but he was a starter. The kids that were on the team last year looked at him with much respect. He was right...he would not only make the team, but be better than the team.

He was able to accomplish all this because he already had it in his mind that he would make it. Hard work and strategy is what got him on the team as a starter. He is the prime example that confidence starts in the mind.