52 Weeks of Mental Mastery - Week 6: Trust the Work

Week 6: Trust the Work ~ Confidence lives in preparation

💬 Quote

“The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.”
— Juma Ikangaa, Olympic marathoner

🔍 Self-Awareness Question

When you're under pressure, do you trust your preparation or question it?

📖 Story

Before hitting the game-winning shot in the 2016 NCAA Championship, Kris Jenkins of Villanova had practiced that exact play thousands of times.

No panic. No hesitation.
Just rhythm, footwork, release and trust.

The moment didn’t make him great.
The work did.

🧠 Science

Confidence is built, not born, and science backs it up.
Neuroscience shows that repetition creates stronger neural pathways, making your response more automatic under pressure.

The more prepared you are, the more your brain recognizes:

“I’ve been here. I’ve trained for this.”

That trust unlocks speed, calm, and confidence in the clutch.

👣 Step Forward

Build Your Confidence Bank
Before a game, test, or big moment, ask yourself:

“Have I earned the right to feel confident?”

Then list 3 things you’ve done to prepare…
✅ Reps you’ve put in
✅ Film you’ve studied
✅ Lifts or conditioning work you’ve done
✅ Times you showed up even when it was hard
✅ Mistakes you learned from
✅ Mental reps you've taken (visualization, mindset work)

You don’t have to fake confidence when you’ve earned it.

When the moment comes, your brain won’t search for motivation
it will search for proof.
Trust the work. That’s where your confidence lives.