Kobe Bryant needs no introduction.

He is one of the greatest basket players of all time. Kobe didn’t just win 5 NBA championships, but he also won an Oscar and an Academy Award. There is one thing that is undeniable about Kobe Bryant, he has unshakable confidence. So where does his confidence come from?

According to Kobe Bryant: “Confidence comes from preparation.”

Before stepping onto the basketball court, he knew he had outworked every single one of the players on that court and that no one prepared more than him for the upcoming games. His preparation ahead of every game fuelled his confidence and because he was prepared at all times, his confidence was unbreakable. How can he not feel confident?

If you know in your mind you’ve done the work, prepared and prepared again then nothing will stand in the way of you eventually succeeding and reaching your goal.

Example: Imagine you’re about to give a presentation to 400 people. You’re nervous.

People are staring at you. Your confidence that you’re going to deliver a good presentation starts to plummet. As you start the presentation, you stumble over your words but all of the sudden preparation takes over. You’ve prepared this presentation for weeks and know the presentation by heart.

Suddenly you become more confident as the presentation goes on and eventually become so confident that your presentation delivers itself.

Preparation is one of the most underrated skills when trying to build confidence and if one of the greatest players of all time says this is how he built his confidence, there must be some truth to it.