How to Build Confidence

Imagine the feeling, after your land your first switch tails on to a rail.

 

3 weeks ago you were nervous to even hit a rail, and terrified to hit one switch.

 

But you spent these last 3 weeks getting comfortable sliding all the features.

 

Then you started to hit boxes & tubes switch lip on.

 

You fell the first few times but it wasn’t as bad as you’d expected.

 

You actually start getting it and everything begins clicking.

 

Now, you’ve been visualizing hitting it tails on and you could already feel how it was going to feel.

 

You finally send it...

 

That feeling when the metal connects with the bottom of your skis.

 

That moment when you know you did what you said you were going to.

 

You did it so quick, you're feeling confident about how your bag of tricks is growing.

 

When you leave the hill you carry that confidence with you into school, work, the next interview or test you have.

 

Because you know that like that rail, you can over come your objection and execute what you put your mind to.

 

NPC TO HERO - Confidence is the bridge

 

Lettuce talk about confidence.

 

Confidence is key to living a meaningful life.

 

If you're confident in yourself, it radiates to those around you.

 

Other people will trust your decision making.

 

They'll trust you as a whole since you know what you want and don't second guess your intuition.

 

The more confident you become, the easier it will be to know the right decision for yourself.

 

Remember, we're talking about confidence here, not being cocky.

 

There's a difference.

 

Confidence is a healthy level of self-belief in one's abilities.

 

Cockiness is an overstatement of those abilities or an overemphasis on past achievements.

 

The ladder stems from insecurity. We can talk about that in another newsletter.

 

Why most people lose confidence

 

Confidence fluctuates as most things in life do.

 

As children we go out into the world with enough confidence to wear a Batman shirt with cowboy boots.

 

And walk up to any kid on the playground and start a game.

 

Now, this can change as our brain develops and society molds us more.

 

If someone "makes fun" of you for wearing your Batman shirt, your confidence in how you dress starts to change.

 

If you get hurt skiing big mountain it may effect your confidence to charge hard, even if you know you can do it.

 

And this is how people start to loose confidence.

 

Overtime you stop learning new things.

 

Which enables you to fall into routines.

 

Not pushing your comfort zone to try new things.

 

You get scared to try new tricks on skis, because if you get hurt you won't be able to work, and you have bills to pay.

 

So you settle into what you're comfortable with.

 

You may not be happy with your career choice, but you already got a degree in this study.

 

So you're scared to branch out, and pursue a job that would be more fulfilling.

 

Because what would society think?

 

But it's not an end all be all.

 

Since you're human, you have the ability to think.

 

Better yet, you have the ability to create.

 

So, if you become aware of how you can build or lose confidence you can continue to build it.

 

If you choose.

 

How to build confidence (through skiing and for skiing)

 

As we talked about, you can build confidence through learning new things.

 

Holding yourself accountable to your word (follow through with what you say you'll do)

 

And continuing to grow as a human.

 

Sports in general build confidence because you're working to better yourself.

 

Skiing especially builds confidence since you have to hold yourself accountable.

 

As mentioned in the story in the beginning.

 

If you say you're going to learn a new trick.

 

You learn every progression to that new trick.

 

And then you execute your trick.

 

You'll boost your confidence, because you said you were going to do something.

 

Then you learned something new to get the desired outcome.

 

Then you followed through with your word to yourself.

 

In contrary, if you said you wanted to learn a specific trick.

 

But didn't try to progress into that trick.

 

Threw the trick a few times and didn't land it (or got hurt).

 

And then gave up because it was "too hard"

 

This would hurt your confidence.

 

Because:

You didn't learn the progression.

You skipped to the last step.

And then you didn't follow through with your word to yourself.

 

This can be due to a lack of discipline. More on that in another newsletter.

 

See how skiing builds confidence in your life?

 

So...

 

How do we build confidence for skiing?

 

Let's hear how Bruce breaks it down!

1. Visualization:

   • Imagine yourself landing the trick you're working on.

   • Can you visualize how it will feel? How it will look?

   • Are you imagining it from a first person perspective? Or from someone watching on the side of the run?

   • Being able to visualize yourself is key to feeling confident going into a run.

2. Build Your Base:

   • How good are your base tricks?

   • Can you do all the base tricks nat & unnat?

   • If you land switch looking over your unnat shoulder, will you be confident to ski out?

3. Off Hill Training:

   • Are you training when you're not skiing?

   • Are you visualizing when you're going to sleep or brushing your teeth?

   • Are you working out, so you feel strong (strength builds confidence)

   • Are you on a trampoline to gain air awareness?

4. Off Season Training:

   • Did you continue to train during off season?

   • Did you build your confidence during your time away from the hill?

   • If you're serious about progress, you'll bring it into every aspect of life.

5. Do You Have A Steezy Kit?:

   • This ones super important.

   • If you feel confident in your kit, what you're wearing, it'll transfer into your skiing.

   • You'll feel confident so you'll want to ski up to that standard.

   • Do you like the colors you're wearing?

   • Are your clothes baggy enough?

 

These 5 lessons play into being confident while skiing.

 

So you can continue learning new tricks and pushing yourself.

 

Additionally don't be afraid to ask for feedback in the park.

 

Yes, it can be intimidating when someones better then you.

 

Dressed in a baggy kit, and you don't know them.

 

But, everyones been where you are at one point.

 

And everyone in the park is pushing themselves to get better, and willing to give out pointers.

 

Don't ditch your friends.

 

But, if you can ski with people a little better then you, do it.

 

This pushes you out of your comfort zone, and progress gets faster.

 

Go execute now!

 

Lettuce do a quick recap so you can stay confident.

• Most people lose confidence because they stop learning new things.

• It's easy to become comfortable and stop pushing yourself.

• Learning new tricks builds your confidence.

• Building your confidence on skis, builds your confidence in life.

• As you become a better skier, you can help those around you become better.

• Bruces 5 rules to being confident while skiing.

 

Ski seasons less than 90 days away and we're stoked!

 

Time to get in the gym, and get ski ready!

 

If you want help with any of the above, or need a supportive community.

 

You can Join Slope Academy here.

Peace,

Slope Academy