Many of the great things we can do in life are challenging: getting into a good college, becoming a professional athlete or a business executive, etc. We succeed at these things because we strive for them, we do the work necessary to get what we want, and because we believe that we can do it. We have self-confidence.
Brian Mitchell’s father taught him one of his earliest lessons about his abilities and about self-confidence, and it has stuck with him until this day. Brian was in fifth grade and was helping his father put up a fence at their house in rural Louisiana. They were digging holes, and it turned out to be much harder work than he had thought it would be. Not only was it harder, but there was a lot of it! The reality of the project was that it was far bigger than he had imagined.
Brian started to get tired and the fun of the project wore off, so he wanted to quit. He told his father that he was unable to continue and that he was too small for such hard work.
He told Brian it wasn’t true. His father told him that all he had to do was believe in himself. The fence project wasn’t too big and he wasn’t too small; he simply had to believe that he was capable of finishing the work.
Brian listened to him. He believed. And he finished the fence with his father.
That was one of his first lessons in self-confidence and he’ll never forget it.
Ever since, he’s seen in other people the strength and value of self-confidence. When he was in the NFL, you’d better believe that the players were self-confident! They wouldn’t have gotten into the NFL, nor would they win many games, if they didn’t believe that they could run faster, hit harder, and catch better than the other teams.
Nowadays, Brian sees self-confidence in leaders in all kinds of areas including coaches, politicians, business executives, and people who do big things in almost any area you can think of.
Most people aren’t born with self-confidence. But they can pick it up through lessons like the one Brian’s father taught to him. Or they can work at it deliberately and develop it for themselves. While his father certainly gave him his start in developing self-confidence, he has applied himself in a number of ways to further build his confidence.
Brian Mitchell was an NFL star with a 14-year career (Washington Redskins 1990-1999, Philadelphia Eagles 2000-2002, and New York Giants 2003). He then went on to develop a successful career as a television and radio host. He also talks with various groups, including business leaders, professional athletes, and high school and college athletes, about the importance of self-confidence, goal setting, and more. If you would like to book Brian to speak with a group, contact him at [email protected].