Why Confidence is Irrelevant w/ Dr. Nick Molinaro
Dr. Nick Molinaro is a licensed psychologist with 35 years experience. He specializes in clinical counseling psychology, sport psychology, executive assessment and performance enhancement. Some of Dr. Nick's clients include players in the NFL, AFL, CFL, NBA, NASCAR, PGA, LPGAformer Olympic Gold and Silver Medal winners, a European Zonal Qualifier for the 2012 Olympics, and NCAA athletes from all divisions. Dr. Nick is the sports psychologist I have referred to in previous episodes. He helped me through one of the most difficult times of my life, immediately following my football injury. I am honored to have him on the show for this episode and I have no doubt that his insights and perspective will resonate with many listeners. The focus of our conversation in this episode is on the importance of mindset in both performance and recovery from injury, which has never been talked about on the podcast before. Specifically, we explore the difference between 'CONFIDENCE vs. EFFICACY 'and 'TRUST vs. FAITH'. Show notes can be found below.
“whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right” - Henry Ford
Thinking is the foundation for everything we do. This can work both for us and against us.
It is important to remember that beliefs don’t always tell us the truth.
How Dr. Nick uses The Attentional & Interpersonal Style Inventory measure with his clients.
Find out if you are placing your attention where it needs to be.
Attentional shifting.
Intention drives attention, attention drives your decision making.
Where is an athlete's attention at the moment of execution?
“Can you do it? Go get it done” - Dr. Nick
Confidence vs. Efficacy
Confidence
Belief about an ability to perform.
Feeling about an ability to perform.
Beliefs and feelings don’t always tell you the truth.
Two essential elements of the definition aren’t always true.
Efficacy = Competency = Truth
Dr. Nick gives us a real-life example with two of his high jumping clients.
How focusing on the specific activity at hand improves performance.
What is overconfidence?
Paying too much attention to how they are feeling or what they are believing.
"What you believe becomes your truth, not the truth" - Dr. Nick
The role hypnosis plays in Dr. Nick's practice and the barriers that exist with it's effectiveness.
Trust vs Faith
Trust - proof associated with trust.
Faith - requires no proof , there is no doubt and it is future oriented.
No doubt about your ability to perform.
Trust and faith are both beliefs.
Faith can take over for the lack of proof.
How body language translates to performance.
Frontalis muscle on forehead.
Attitude is about being in the moment.
Dr. Nick book recommendation:
Sports Spirituality by Mark Nesti
Maintaining faith after multiple setbacks - look at it as a test of their faith.
Sports most affected by mentality:
Golf
What you do in golf you don’t do in other aspect of your life.
Does mindest differ by gender?
The role of the larger corpus callosum in females.
Dr. Nick book recommendation:
Mindest by Carol Dweck
Anxiety vs. Fear:
Who is going to win, how well will I do? (the unknown) = Anxiety
Why it is important to have a respect for fear on and off the field?
