A friend once told me about pitching one of the world’s biggest companies. While they didn’t do business together, my friend was saying it was incredible—borderline a miracle—that the sales conversation even went that far. Then he reflected that it was his own responsibility. He said, “We shouldn’t have to be perfect to get it.”

It’s similar to how free solo climber Alex Honnold describes climbing El Capitan without a safety harness. He said, “It’s not enough to think that you can, you have to absolutely know on a physical and rational level that the free solo that you’re attempting is well within your abilities.” 

While the stakes are lower, the principle applies. This confidence isn’t manifested or visualized—Honnold earned the confidence through climbing a lot of really difficult mountains, and putting his life on the line. He got the game reps in.

When you know something is well within your abilities—because you’ve experienced so much—confidence comes as a byproduct. You know you won’t cave under pressure, and you don’t need something to go perfectly, because you know that you’ll know what to do.