What would you have liked to have done differently and why?

What do you need to do to make things happen so that you are successful?

Awareness and Action

Like a blindfolded man who has never learned to drive, sitting behind the wheel of a speeding car on a busy road. He is unlikely to reach his destination without mishap. He may think that he is driving the car, but actually the car is driving him. If he wants to avoid an accident, let alone arrive at his goal, he should remove the blindfold, learn how to operate the vehicle, and steer it out of danger as quickly as possible. Similarly, we must become aware of what we do and then learn to perform actions that will lead us where we really wish to go.

Common sense will tell you that for things to change you would be wise to do something different. Working with me as your Coach for a season is more affordable than you think and may well change the way you practice and play the game, for the better.

The findings suggest that happiness is not a “feel good” luxury, but is essential to people’s wellbeing.

“For example, they show that happy people tend to earn higher incomes,” said Prof Lyubomirsky. Having established the link, they wanted to discover the cause.

“Almost always it has been assumed that things that correlate with happiness are the causes of happiness, but it could be just the opposite – that those things tend to be caused by happiness,” said Professor Ed Diener from the University of Illinois, another author on the paper.

Other studies revealed that having a sunny outlook on life appeared to precede good fortune.

Some of my clients have reported feeling better about their games without instantly seeing their results improve. They then leave the coaching principles behind and go back to trying hard to get better and a more stressed way of trying to improve. 

Living and working with the idea that happiness follows success means that we are stressed most of the time and when success does come the happiness is short lived.

If we realise that success follows happiness then we would all enjoy ourselves more and worry less. 

Put this into your golf practice and play and see how you get on.

 As the seed is so the fruit will be. As the action is so the result will be. In the same soil a farmer plants two seeds: one a seed of sugar cane the other a seed of a neem tree, a tropical tree which is very bitter. Two seeds in the same earth receiving the same sunshine, the same water, the same air. Nature gives the same nourishment to both. Two tiny plants emerge and start growing. And what has happened to the neem tree? It has developed bitterness in every fibre, while the sugar cane has developed sweetness. Why is nature so cruel to one and so kind to the other?

             No, no nature is neither kind nor cruel. It works according to fixed laws. Nature only helps the quality of the seed to manifest. As the seed is so the fruit will be. So the farmer goes to the neem tree, bows down three times, offers flowers, candles and incense, fruits and sweets and then he starts praying ” Oh neem god, please give me sweet mangoes, I want sweet mangoes!” Poor neem god he cannot give them, he has no power to do so. If someone wants sweet mangoes, he should plant the seed of a mango tree, then he need not beg for help from anyone. The fruit that he will be given will be nothing but sweet mangoes. Our difficulty is that we remain unaware while planting seeds. We keep planting seeds of neem but when the time comes for fruit we are suddenly alert, we want sweet mangoes and we keep crying and praying for mangoes. This doesn’t work. As the seed is, so the fruit will be. 

Well 2012 is very nearly here so maybe it is a good time to think about what changes are necessary for you to play your best golf when it matters next year.

A big part of Performance Coaching is asking golfers to raise awareness. More awareness leads to better performance. With that in mind, answer the following questions and write down your answers. Then act on them! 

Coaching Questions

What did you achieve in your golf in 2011?

What would you have liked to have done differently and why?

What do you need to do to make things happen so that you are successful?

Awareness and Action

Like a blindfolded man who has never learned to drive, sitting behind the wheel of a speeding car on a busy road. He is unlikely to reach his destination without mishap. He may think that he is driving the car, but actually the car is driving him. If he wants to avoid an accident, let alone arrive at his goal, he should remove the blindfold, learn how to operate the vehicle, and steer it out of danger as quickly as possible. Similarly, we must become aware of what we do and then learn to perform actions that will lead us where we really wish to go.

Common sense will tell you that for things to change you would be wise to do something different. Working with me as your Coach for a season is more affordable than you think and may well change the way you practice and play the game, for the better.