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Muhammad Ali didn't just have confidence; he weaponized it. He famously proclaimed 'I am the greatest! ' long before the world agreed with him. For Ali, confidence wasn't a feeling you waited for; it was a state of being you created through affirmation and action. He taught that 'it's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. ' His swagger wasn't just ego—it was a psychological strategy to intimidate opponents and convince himself of his own invincibility.
"I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark."
"Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even."
"There are no pleasures in a fight, but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win."
"Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them—a desire, a dream, a vision."
"The man who has no imagination has no wings."
"I shook up the world! I shook up the world!"
"I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want."
"It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen."
"I'm the most famous person in the world."
"I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest."
"I predicted I would be the youngest heavyweight champion in history and I am."
"What I suffered physically was worth what I've accomplished in life."
"I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own."
"It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself."
"I'm a showman. I'm the greatest of all time."
"I am the greatest. I'm a king."
"I'm so fast I can hit you before God gets the news."
"I am the master of my destiny, I am the captain of my soul."
"I'm the greatest thing that ever lived. I don't have a mark on my face."
"I'm the heavyweight champion of the world, but I'm also the people's champion."
"I'm so mean, I make medicine sick."
"To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are."
"I am the double greatest. Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round."
"I'm young; I'm handsome; I'm fast. I can't possibly be beat."
"It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am."
"I never thought of losing, but now that it's happened, the only thing is to do it right. That's my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life."
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it."
Inspired by: Campaign: Adidas 'Impossible is Nothing' (Based on his philosophy)
"I am the king of the world! I’m pretty! I’m a bad man!"
"I said I was the greatest before I knew I was. I'm still the greatest."
"I’m not the greatest; I’m the double greatest."
"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."
"If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize."
"It's not bragging if you can back it up."
"I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was."
"I've wrestled with alligators, I've tussled with a whale. I done shackled lightning, thrown thunder in jail."
Seeing how Muhammad Ali approaches Confidence helps you apply the idea with more precision.
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