Athletes are used to battling. The public would never learn their names if professional athletes had not shown courage at an early age. They learn they can overcome, but sometimes this becomes a false sense of security that leads them to the edge.
Richard Sherman has kind of the peak of self-confidence. I'm a little below that. But I've learned a lot from him.
Lionel Messi is very much the team player, while Cristiano is very ego-driven.
No athletes talk to themselves like tennis players. Pitchers, golfers, goalkeepers, they mutter to themselves, but tennis players talk to themselves-and answer. Tennis players look like lunatics in a public square.
Whenever I hear people crying about Kobe yelling at people in practice or wondering whether or not LeBron is best friends with his teammates, I just roll my eyes. You know how many off-court conversations I had with the Zen-Master Phil Jackson in my entire time with the Lakers? One.
As a competitive athlete, you always want to come out on top and give your best work. So whether it's my sister or any other opponent, I'm competitive.
Don't get me wrong - I love Jason Kidd. He's a great point guard (But) how am I comparing myself to him when I think I'm the best point guard to play basketball? That doesn't make any sense. I mean, how can I sit here and compare myself to somebody if I already think I'm the best?I'm telling you what it is: I know I'm the best point guard in the NBA. I don't need anybody else to tell me that. When I go on the basketball court, if I think about what you're all saying, I'll lose my mind.
I meet athletes from different backgrounds and see they share the same mentality and process as other athletes in other sports.
A player checking Twitter at halftime? I've seen it. A player tweeting out a grievance with an organization about playing time or how he is being utilized? I see it far too often. But the most concerning? Watching a really talented player corrupt his mind and confidence by reading all the critiques from anonymous football experts around the world.
I didn't bother with trash-talking people's moms, wives, or girlfriends. I was like, 'Hold on, man, you mean to tell me you're making $10 million a year? That's $9 million, $999,999 too much!' That ate them up.
Wrestlers are a little more dedicated than, and are different from, the other people, which may be strange.
If I lose forcing the pace all the way, well, at least I can live with myself. But if it's a slow pace, and I get beaten by a kicker who leaches off the front, then I'll always wonder, 'What if...?'
I don't want to be like those guys that, two or three years into their contract, they do really good, and then they don't care.
I believe that some athletes have fear, but you have to work on that. Athletes can't have fear. Fear of what? Fear of losing? Everybody loses one day.
As athletes, we love to say, 'Just one more; I'm going to figure it out on this next one.' It's tough to pull back the reins and do what is smart physically, listening to your body and always ending a workout or session feeling like I could have done more.
It might be okay for somebody else on the roster to sit on the sideline but it's not okay for me to be. I'm the franchise player, I'm the guy on both the microphone and in the ring.
I can't worry about techs. I've got to play my game.
Many top professional sportsmen from different sports see a psychologist.
I was an athlete in college, and Wall Street likes athletes because they're very competitive people that are willing to do anything to win. So I got a job at Bear Stearns in the summer of 2007.
I'm not the type who spends his free time in training camp playing with his Playstation or playing cards on trips. The other players thought it was odd: There he is, reading again.
It's important to make sure your players have the mindset that playing international cricket is still the ultimate form of cricket.
Ronaldo is the best of the best, I mean not only as a football player but also as a human being. You can see how he developed and how devoted he is to really staying on top every year to excel. I think that is something unbelievable, and I said it before and will say it again: he is an athlete, and an athlete is a positive thing.
As an athlete living in a very competitive environment there are always times when you are questioned. It's up to you to prove people wrong and I really enjoy that.
Everybody wants to come out here and test my cardio but I'm one of the hardest working guys in the division.
I think it's normal that, the first time you meet Federer or Murray or Djokovic, you're going to get nervous. But after a while, they become normal opponents, people you see every week. That's the way you have to think. You can't think of them as legends. When you see someone on court, you have to treat every opponent the same way.
