Description

As Athletic Director and head coach of the Varsity Soccer team at Ryerson University, Dr. Joseph passionately discusses the most important skill he’s looking for in his players, a skill he argues is important for every field in and outside of sports.  Confidence is “the ability or belief to believe in yourself and accomplish any task no matter the odds, difficulty, or adversity.”  Dr. Joseph argues that just like any skill in sports, we can train ourselves to be confident with practice, persistence, self-talk, surrounding ourselves by the right people, and reminding ourselves about our accomplishments.

Discussion Questions

• Why is confidence important?  What if someone didn’t have any confidence at all?
• How can you train yourself to be more confident?  What can you start doing today?
• Are there any negative self-talk points you say to yourself?
• What are two things you would you write in your own confidence letter?

Keywords: life skills, character, sports, persistence, self confidence, psychology