Muhammad Ali didn't use affirmations to build confidence. His famous lines like "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" weren't manufactured mantras but natural expressions of a confidence he already possessed. Real self-belief produces powerful words, not the other way around.
So a lot of times when people hear me talk about affirmations, they go, what about people like Muhammad Ali? You gotta understand, Muhammad Ali wasn't doing affirmations to get himself into that state. He was getting himself into that state and accidentally doing affirmations from already in. You don't come up with, I flow like a butterfly, sting like a bee, the hands can't touch what the eyes can't see. A person who feels slow and is trying to use words to get himself to feel can't come up with something like that. That's a person who already feels fast. That's a person who's already convinced that they lightning fast. That's a person who's already saying shit like, man, at night I turn off the light and I'm in bed before the room is even dark. That's a Muhammad Ali quote. I turn off the light and I'm in bed before the room is even dark.
