'They doubted me' list: 3 Seahawks being doubted by oubtsiders
Can Seahawks Kenneth Walker III, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Dre'Mont Jones quiet the doubters? Seaside Joe 1910
With non-negotiable daily habits such as this Seahawks newsletter, but especially with the commitments that I really hate doing like cardio exercise, I have this stupid running joke/serious form of motivation in which I tell myself and others that “they’re all doubting me”. Before runs, I’ll tell Seaside Jay, “Did you hear? Apparently everyone on the internet today is doubting that I’ll go on my run because it’s raining outside.”
Or I’ll come home from a run and pretend to be in the middle of a phone call with one of “the people” who doubted me. “You must feel pretty stupid now!”, I’ll say. Which they would…if they were real…but they’re not…and that doesn’t matter.
Of course, I’ve stolen this “they doubted” technique from all of our favorite athletes. I’ll never forget the night I was outside of the Seahawks locker room (a rare occasion, but it has happened) after Seattle stunningly came-from-behind to beat the Packers in the NFC Championship game and Doug Baldwin emerged from the shadows to scream at reporters that everyone doubted them. When Baldwin went back to the locker room one reporter chimed in, I tell myself it was Bob Condotta but I’ll never know for sure, “But you guys were the favorites.”
Hardest NFL-related laugh I’ve ever had. Actually, I recorded it on my phone and it was the only time my name got featured on ESPN:
I don’t know where this thing comes from where people need to be motivated by being doubted, but because it is a) proven and b) funny-to-me, I use it. A study of self-doubt and motivation posted on the Psychology of Sport and Exercise shows a relationship between self-efficacy and performance:
The current study provides some support for the possibility that some self-doubt can be a motivating factor for individuals to exert maximal effort when initially attempting an exercise endurance task.
Actually, one of my non-negotiable daily habits is a running list of things that people “doubt” I will do. Most entries are joke entries, but having a constant running list of things I want to accomplish and the likelihood of reaching those goals seems like it can’t do any harm. If it works for athletes, it can work for me, and if a “they doubted me” list works for me, it can work for athletes. Including these three Seattle Seahawks.