Believe in yourself: You're far superior than you may think

It was the end of the basketball season league. All of our efforts, training and painful journey lead us finally to the grand finals. On the very the last dying seconds, I was fouled as I was driving to the basket. The buzzer went off and the time was over. We were down by 1 point and I have 2 free throws to sink for the win. The fate of the whole team and supporters to win the Grand finals were at my hands.

As I was heading to the free throw line, the pressure started to build. The whole stadium was shaking as the crowd roars with excitement and fear. I’m sure you can even hear the stadium 5 miles away. As I stood at the free throw line I can hear my family, my friends and all my supporters. “YOU CAN DO IT!!!”… “YOU GOT THIS!, YOU’RE THE MAN!”… “GO BREIAN!!,WOOOO!!”… The opposing supporters were trying to distract me and I lowered the volume and could only hear them so soft.

The pressure was now on. I’m tired and I can feel that my knees were now weak.
“What if I don’t sink this basket? I’ll be the laughing stock of all my peers.”
“What if I fail? ‘Embarrassing’ would be an understatement.”
“I got a lot of people who believes in me, what if I can’t deliver?”

I bounced the ball 3 times, took a breath, bent my knees and proceeded with the shot…
I missed… I can hear the dismayed silent sound of my supporters and joy of the opposing team. My supporters started to cheer for me again, “Go Breian!!!, let’s take this to overtime!” The referee blew the whistle and made a hand signal ‘1 final shot’ and passed me the ball.

“How could I missed it? Now my chances are even lower.”
“Please go in, please go in…”
I bounced the ball 5 times, shut out all the noise and focused on the ring. I took a breath, bent my knees and proceeded with the shot… The crowd yells,…

… I missed the shot.

It was one of the unforgettable and devastating events in my life. I’ve let a lot of people down, especially the team who suffered the grueling time and effort to get to the grand finals. I was a failure,… “How can you miss 2 easy free throws after training every week for the season?”

There will be people; Family, friends or a team that will support you. But the number one supporter you can ever have is yourself. Some people will believe in you in what you do or try to accomplish, and some people won’t… But the most important believer/supporter is yourself, believing in you.
I didn’t miss the shot because I didn’t practice. I missed the shot because I didn’t believe in myself. I had dozens of people who believed in me at that moment. Those dozens of people were no match to the believer that was inside of me. That is the truth in you; the believer inside of you is far superior than the believers outside of you. It is far superior than you can imagine.

Some people may call it confidence, but confidence derives only from your belief. Confidence is your belief that you are capable, a subjective trust in yourself… whether arrogant confidence or experience confidence. It is a belief that you hold true within yourself, a belief that usually becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. “If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you can’t. Either way, you are right.”

3 seasons had passed and I found myself exactly in the same situation. Only now, the difference was that the crowd was louder and even more intimidating than ever.
“He’s the guy who missed the shots for the win!”
“He won’t sink it, he’s crap!”
“You SUCK!... even my grandma can shoot better than you!”

Yes, only now, the difference was that I now have a different mindset. The difference now, was that I now have confidence and I now believe in myself. As I heard some of the degrading curses and insulting enchants, I couldn’t help but smile deep inside… I knew without a doubt that I’m going to sink these 2 free throws.
I got to the free throw line and the referee signalled ‘2 shots’ and passed the ball to me. They were so loud that they were drowning all the supports from my team mates, family and friends.

I looked at the ring…
“I’ve done this during practice and I get it in all the time, this is no different.”
“I am a winner and I am good at shooting the basket, this is what I’ve trained for.”
“There are no pressures. There is no one guarding me. It’s just me and the ring.”
I bounced the ball 3 times, looked at the ring and took a breath. I bent my knees and proceeded with the shot….

Shhhhoooookkk…. The referee made the signal ‘points goods and counted’. I hit the first shot. It was so precise and accurate that it didn’t touch the ring,… Nothing but net!…. One more shot for the win.

The crowd even got wilder, it’s a draw and the referee made a signal ‘1 final shot’. It was nail-biting, swear words thrown all over the place trying to deter me from making the next shot. Tension in the stadium was all time high. The stadium again began to tremble, you can hear the stadium a mile away. I bounced the ball 5 times, shut out all the noise and focused on the ring. I took a breath, bent my knees and proceeded with the shot…

Shhhhoooookkk… (Nothing but net!)

All of the supporters and my team mates rushed on the court in excitement, jumping all over the place. The rest of the crowd and the opposing team was in silence, it was game over. Just like what my coach says, “You either win or you lose.” It doesn’t matter if you lose by 1 point or 20 points, you still lose.

I walked to the opposing team and humbly shook the coach’s hand and the players, telling them that it was indeed a very good game. I humbly carried myself without ever going crazy and making attention. Of course, deep inside mentally, I was running all over the place yelling at the top of my lungs…

…“IN YOUR FACE!!!!”