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Thoughts on confidence, fear, and visualization (May 20, 1999)
Since my frame is cracking and Cosmo's sending me a warranty frame, I've been practicing harder this week and not worrying at all about hurting the bike or just chucking it out of the way when I run into trouble. I've found just how much importance confidence and fear have to do with trials. I knew they had something to do with being able to do more advanced moves, but now I understand that they completely dictate your success or failure, even if you already have the skills. Going at this pile of broken bits of concrete on campus, where pieces wobbled around, broke, or slid, I found that the only way through it was to go at it without fearing falling and going at it with such confidence that I didn't stop, just kept hopping through without pausing like usual. First time through I found myself halfway through and on top before I even knew what had hit me. I was amazed. Although I fell like 5 times at some hard parts (going down), I didn't hurt myself because I wasn't afraid. If you fear crashing, you will crash. If you fear crashing, you will hurt yourself when you crash. It's the problem of negative focus. If you focus on the negative, the negative result will come out. Positive thinking is the key - visualize (see) yourself doing it successfully, and then make it real with absolute confidence and no fear. Delude yourself into thinking you can do it, if you must.
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