“There’s a thin line between confidence and arrogance.” – From “Confidence,” the third, and perhaps final episode of Love Monkey

Michael Jordan missed 12,345 shots during NBA regular season games, yet one, taken during his days at the University of North Carolina, may be the reason he later attempted 24,537 shots and scored 32,292 points on the journey that made him arguably the games greatest player ever.

On March 29, 1982, Georgetown led North Carolina 62-61 in the NCAA Championship game. With 32 seconds left the Tar Heels call timeout. Legendary coach Dean Smith instructed his team to look inside for star James Worthy, and if that option wasn’t open, they’d swing the ball to a Freshman for a jump shot. When the ball landed in his hands, Michael Jordan was 16 feet from the hole. In one fluid, reflexive motion, he caught the pass, squared himself and arched the ball toward the basket till it snapped the twines he and his teammates would cut down in celebration minutes later.

I’ve always wondered,”what if Michael had missed?” Would he have had the self-confidence it took to become the NBA’s greatest player? I think that hitting that high-pressure shot at such an impressionable age made a huge difference. That moment crystallized his confidence and it never left him. He was never afraid to fail and as a result, he enjoyed unparalleled success. “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career,” he once said. “I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Wikipedia describes self-confidence as having:
– the courage to talk in front of a large number of people
– the willingness to try something new
– the willingness to go against what others are thinking or doing
– the willingness to explore what has not been explored

I think the willingness to fail should be on that list… Are you willing to fail?