Tag: confidence (page 1 of 5)

Kita Mindset: How to Stop Being Nervous

The Kita Mindset adopts the lifestyle and mantra of Kita Shinsuke.

A quiet and humble captain of a high school volleyball team. I found this character  when rewatching a sport series – Haikyuu.

“Someone’s always watching, Shin. The gods are everywhere. So someone’s always watching.”

Kita’s grandmother spoke the above statement to her grandson when he was a small child. She believed it was always good to always do the right things. Because “the gods” or someone was watching your waves

Her little boy believed his grandma’s words, transforming it to a lifestyle as he grew up.

Kita Mindset – Do it right and do it every day

This statement becomes a mantra for Kita Shinsuke.

Take care of your body. Tidy up after yourself. Practice gratitude. And you practice what you do.

You do it right and you do it every day.

This is how Kita adopted this mindset and became the captain of the second-best volleyball team in Japan.

Kita’s plays on the court were not polished but they were thorough. More importantly, his philosophy of doing it right made Kita to be a good leader. Kita brought out the best from his team members.

This leads me to talk about a new type of confidence.

Stop Being Nervous

The Kita Mindset – Stop Being Nervous

How to Stop Being Nervous

In a previous article, I shared how confidence helps people continuously stay at the top.

Kita Shinsuke developed his own type and always overflowed with confidence. This was not confidence that says that you are better than others. But confidence that ensures that you won’t mess up.

Kita brilliantly sums it up in a conversation with one of his players:

“I don’t understand why anyone ever gets nervous. You only get nervous because you try to be more powerful than you usually are, right? I mean, when you do day-to-day things like eat or take a shit, you don’t get nervous.”

The Kita mindset goes beyond volleyball. I believe it applies to life too.

Maximize your Kita Mindset with practice, practice, practice.

Practice well enough that you have reason to have faith in yourself.

An example would be a job interview.  From my experience and discussion with others, job interviews are easiest when you truly know what you are doing. As long as you practice a few answers to common questions, there is no need to be nervous.

If it’s something you can do during practice, there’s no reason to get nervous.

Practice and work on something. This can be work, a hobby or something you want. And if you do this, every day, you’ll feel…  great.

There is also something that Kita says that makes so much sense:

“Everything you do on a scale of one to ten. The Geniuses do from one to twenty. Other times, they do a more efficient ten. Or they try new things from A to Z.”

I think it is clearer once you realize this. So be humble enough to realize that the successful people simply do more each day towards progressing in their craft than you do. If you want more, you simply need to do more. And the results will simply follow.

When you have prepared for the big moments, there won’t be no need to be nervous.

Your everyday actions are what make you who you are. Results are just the side effects of what you do.

I’m basically built from my daily routine, and the results are nothing more than a byproduct. I don’t need any applause. I am just going to do what I need to do.

Do what works for you

Have the confidence to find out what works for you.

This is very important. If you feel what you are doing genuinely works for you, don’t worry about someone else thinking it wrong. When you develop confidence in what works for you, there is a feeling of peace.

You get things done so easily.

I like the way Kita also puts it after he becomes the captain of his team:

“The gods are always everywhere. That’s what Grandma would always tell me, but at some point, I stopped caring. It’s not like I’m doing this for the gods. Repetition, being methodical, and being thorough just feels nice.”

I hope you find the confidence to find out what works for you. When you find out (or if you have found it already), please do it right and do it every day.

The more thorough you are, the more pride you take it in… The more fun it becomes.

Sprint Champion: What it takes to be at the Top

Usain Bolt is arguably the greatest Sprint Champion of all time and inspired a lot of people to keep watching the Olympics.

As a sports lover and Bolt fan, I watched the just concluded Olympics in Paris, France.

There were so many competitions to watch and follow, but I keenly followed the races and sprinters of the 100 meters Athletics with so much interest compared to the others.

I watched the finals of both Men and Women races and there were interesting results that determined the new Sprint Champions.

The Women’s 100 Meters Dash

In the Women’s 100m, there were 2 clear favorites to win the gold medal before the event began.

The first favorite was Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who was already a two-time Olympic champion and easily qualified for the semifinals of the competition.

Yet, before the semifinals, Olympics officials said Shelly-Ann had suffered an undisclosed injury and won’t be able to run or qualify for the final race

This meant the second favorite – Sha’Carri Richardson now had a golden opportunity (pun intended) to win the competition.

Surprisingly, Sha’Carri the American world champion took second both in the semifinal and the final. She lost the gold to a sprinter from the small island of St. Lucia.

The champion’s name was Julien Alfred.

During the post-race press conference, Julien said something which got my attention.

“This morning I woke up and wrote it down, ‘Julien Alfred, Olympic champion.’ So I think believing in myself really was important.”

The new Women's Sprint Champion - Julien Alfred

The new Women’s Sprint Champion – Julien Alfred

The Men’s 100 Meters Dash

For the Men’s edition, there was only one name in the lips of everybody following the competition.

Noah Lyles.

His on-track performances are good. His off-track flair and charisma were better.

Before the event, a lot of people were annoyed by Noah’s playful behavior. His constant showboating irritated others. He also engaged in brash trash talk and these actions fueled the growing resentment.

Noah Lyles sees himself as the new superstar of men’s athletics and he never fails to say this to any interviewer or fellow athletes.

Because of this, some people wanted him to lose this 100m final. After all, Noah is prideful, and pride always goes before a fall.

Others wanted Noah to win. Since he has always backed up in the talk in the past. To these people, Noah is the new Bolt. The future Sprint Champion.

The Men’s 100m sprint final came, and it was the tightest 100m final in global racing history — not just at the Olympics, but anywhere.

When the race began, Lyles was in last place after 40 meters. But after 90 meters he picked up speed and trailed the first person by .01 seconds.

Noah Lyles crossed the finish line just five thousandths of a second ahead of Thompson, who posted a time of 9.789.

Like Julien, the new Olympic champion for men’s 100m sprint also said something that confirmed their winning mentality.

“America, I told you; I got this,” Noah Lyles shouted in celebration after the race results were confirmed.

The new Men's Sprint Champion - Noah Lyles

The new Men’s Sprint Champion – Noah Lyles

What does it take to be at the Top?

The quest for Olympic gold is one of the greatest dramas in all of sports.

It all boils down to this one fleeting moment after a lifetime of hard work, perseverance, tears, high fives, and early morning alarm clocks.

When milliseconds, meters and muscle matter most, there is no margin for error.

Aside from genetics, there are many things that we can learn from Olympians to help us reach our own personal best at work and play.

Being an Olympian is a full-time job. The job description is basically train, eat, sleep, repeat.

In addition to all this, I believe this was how Noah and Julien did it.

Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.

This is a feeling of self-assurance and belief in your abilities. Confidence is trust in yourself and your qualities or skills.

Being confident is the state of being certain about something.

It’s important to note that confidence is different from arrogance.

Healthy confidence involves a realistic assessment of your abilities, while also acknowledging areas for improvement.

The Sprint Champion vs Other Runners

You are one or the other.

But I’m not asking you to hate the champions.

Oh no. Learn from them.

After all, life is a race. These sprint champions – Noah Lyles and Julien Alfred are simply running theirs. Literally and metaphorically.

The other runners had to simply cheer and count their losses afterwards.

Now I’m asking you to be a champion yourself by trusting in yourself and your abilities.

Leave the other runners.

Become a champion.

Then maybe you too will be the top of your field… and the other runners will celebrate you as the Gold Medalist.

Tai Lung: Never Crumble When Things Fail

Tai Lung is a complex villain in a simple story.

The wisest lessons can come from the simplest stories. In 2008, DreamWorks produced a timeless movie, “Kung Fu Panda,” which highlights the dreams of a clumsy giant panda named Po, as he tries to learn Kung-Fu while saving his village from the rampage of the savage snow leopard Tai Lung.

Rewatching Kung fu Panda made me realize this movie had everything.

A great storyline. Well-developed characters. Memorable lessons.

And the greatest lessons of the movie are learned with a focus on Tai Lung, the main antagonist of the story.

Who is Tai Lung?

The Leopard, The Legacy

Understanding Tai Lung

Whether as an upgrade of Tigress, a direct counterpart of Po or as Shifu’s fallen student, Tai Lung was a great villain.

Before the beginning of the movie, Tai Lung was in prison, and we get to know more about him from his escape from prison.

His ferocity. The quickness. His ability to make clever decisions. And his full mastery of kung fu.

As the story goes on, Tai Lung takes on the furious five (a group of his former kung fu master’s greatest students). He overpowers them with ease. His domination was so epic that Po trembled with the fear after hearing this encounter.

Yet in the final battle, this ferocious snow leopard loses to an easygoing big fat panda. Not because Po was quicker or stronger. Tai Lung lost because of three fundamental ideals

Read this to the end. There is a lot to unpack.

The Dangers of Pride and Entitlement

Shifu trained Tai Lung at the Jade Palace, raising him to believe he would become the Dragon Warrior.

However, when Oogway (Shifu’s master) denied him the title, the snow leopard revealed his true dark nature. He rampaged through the Valley, which led to his twenty-years in prison.

Tai Lung’s seething rage and fury did not fade, even after spending so many years in prison. His pride and arrogance did not leave him. Tai Lung’s entitlement mentality made him become the worst version of himself.

We see it clearly on his first encounter with Po:

Tai Lung: Who are you?
Po: Buddy, I... am the Dragon Warrior!
[bows over, panting from the stairs]
Tai Lung: [incredulous] You?
[laughs]
Tai Lung: He's a panda! You're a panda! What are you gonna do, big guy? Sit on me?
Po: Don't tempt me.

The eventual downfall of Tai Lung came from his denial and underestimation of Po.

Tai Lung also did not learn humility. And this virtue he lacked led him to crumble under the weight of expectations.

Crumbling Under the Weight of Expectations

This weight was not entirely the fault of Tai Lung.

Shifu filled his student’s head with the idea that he was destined for greatness. And gaining the dragon scroll was meant to be the physical representation of greatness of his years of kung fu training and mastery. Shifu also seemed to move on and never visited Tai Lung during his 20-year incarceration.

I know it’s not easy but Tai Lung should have moved on as well.

His next goal should have been simple. Focus on growing and improving yourself mentally, rather than seeking more strength and waiting for appreciation. Yet, Tai Lung allowed the weight of expectations to crush him.

Because of this weight, the former kung fu prodigy failed to understand and overcome the curse we are learning next.

The Ferocious Tai Lung

The Ferocious Antagonist of Kung Fu Panda

The Curse of Seeking Validation

Next to Oogway, Tai Lung is virtually the most skilled and dangerous Kung Fu Master alive.

The snow leopard had immense physical strength, was able to punch and tear his way through numerous armored opponents. He was a kung fu prodigy from childhood. The prodigy was the first student to master all one-thousand scrolls of kung-fu.

Yet he had a fatal flaw.

This flaw is perfectly seen in the snow leopard’s dialogue with Shifu after his prison break:

Tai Lung: [growls] I rotted in jail for 20 years because of YOUR weakness!
Shifu: Obeying your master is not weakness!

Tai Lung: You knew I was the Dragon Warrior! You always knew! 
But when Oogway said otherwise, what did you do? What did you do? NOTHING!

Shifu: You were not meant to be the Dragon Warrior! That was not my fault!

Tai Lung: Not your fault? Who filled my head with dreams? 
Who drove me to train until my bones cracked? 
Who denied me my destiny?

Shifu: It was never my decision to make!
[gazes at Oogway's shrine and picks up his staff]

Tai Lung: It is *now*. Give me the Scroll!

Tai Lung’s ultimate goal was to be the Dragon Warrior and be handed the Dragon Scroll, which he firmly believed was his destiny.

Despite his heartless and insensitive exterior, Tai Lung was naturally unassertive and insecure as well. He never believed in himself to start with, and needed the Dragon Scroll to believe.

Ironically as long as he could not believe in himself, he could never win against Po.

Believe in yourself

As an adult rewatching Kung Fu Panda, there are questions gleaned from the movie to understand yourself better.

  • Can I stay humble when winning?
  • Am I afraid to change my path when it is no longer sustainable?
  • Do I still search for other people’s approval to validate my success and experiences?
  • Are these dreams mine or someone’s else?
  • Is anybody denying me my destiny?

There are so many questions to ask yourself.

The answers are right there in front of you. It comes no matter what you do. It is like what Master Oogway said: One often meets his destiny on the path he takes to avoid it.

Just believe in yourself. Don’t fight or seek it in someone or something else.