|
I finally got in a round of golf this summer. It's been a while since
I'd played, so I thought I'd be a little rusty. As I stepped up to the
first tee box with my Big Bertha driver, I remembered something I'd heard
last year. Mark Calcavechia said that he had changed his approach to tee
shots.
When looking down the fairway, most golfers will look at the edges of
the fairway like the edges of a football goal post. The goal is to land
between them. Often, players will pick out a distant tree or building
as a target.
Not Mark, he says he started picking a sprinkler head in the fairway.
Sprinkler heads on golf courses are about six inches in diameter, about
the size of a bread plate. This is quite different from a distant building
that is yards wide or a tree with its spreading limbs that can be yards
wide. Surprisingly enough, Mark said his accuracy improved.
I thought, "What the heck, I'll try it." So I picked a dark
spot on the fairway about 25 yards farther than I normally hit the ball,
and imagined the ball flying in a graceful arc to land and roll down to
that spot. Having that picture in my mind, I teed up the ball and gave
a nice full swing and to my amazement the ball landed and rolled down
close to the right distance and inside the fairway. Let me emphasize,
this isn't a normal occurrence. Most of the time I end up in the left
or right rough. Aiming for the green, I'd visualize the ball falling in
the cup at the bottom of the flag. Putting on the green, I'd visualize
the arc of the ball and the sound of it falling in the hole. I got closer
and made more putts using this strategy.
So I kept doing this for most of the round. Every once in awhile I'd
get cocky and forget to visualize the shot landing where I wanted it to
go, and I'd pay the price: deep rough, bunkers, or trees. Yet every time
I remembered to visualize a smaller target I got a better result.
The Value of Targets
One of the reasons golf appeals to the leaders of business is that it
teaches us something that we can carry over into the rest of our lives,
if we let it.
My wife has two children from a previous marriage. She imagined both
of them graduating from college from the time they were born, and they
both did.
Every business sets revenue goals and works to achieve them, but I don't
believe that every business leader visualizes the effect of each "shot"
they take on achieving that outcome.
So I asked myself:
"So,
if I can do this in golf to get better results,
where else can I use it?"
Hitting the Target
Do you have a target? Do you want to get an "A" in a class?
Get a promotion and better pay? Get a better job in a better work environment?
Have you set a savings target for retirement?
Is it a goal post or a sprinkler head? Do you want an "A" or
a "B" in the class, or just an "A"? Do you want to
get a $5,000-10,000 raise or specifically a $7,500 raise? Do you want
a better job or a management job with a Fortune 500 company that
supports single mothers? Do you want enough money to retire or
do you want $3.5 million in stocks and bonds returning a minimum of 6%
per year?
Pick A Target
Pick a sprinkler head, not a goal post. A specific target beats two competing
edges every time.
Visualize Hitting the Target
Imagine yourself studying the right things, meeting the right people,
investing in the right stock and bond funds to achieve your target. Most
good golf swings are effortless: back and follow through. They are not
forced or hard work. Visualize hitting your target effortlessly.
Adjust As You Go
Calcavechia doesn't hit the sprinkler head every time he tees off, but
he's a lot more on course than off. Pick the next target, visualize and
hit the next shot. My wife's youngest daughter is using that to craft
her career. She just landed a management job and a $10,000/year raise.
She's 28. I wish I'd have known more about this when I was 28. My business
grew out of a vision of owning my own company and escaping the phone company.
Next year marks my 10th anniversary of moving out on my own. It was the
right choice at the right time.
Practice Your Swing, But Practice Visualization
More
Golfers spend a fortune on lessons to improve their swing. They hit buckets
of balls in an attempt to groove their swing. They putt and they chip,
but only 10 percent of amateur golfers ever get below 100 stokes per round.
I'm guessing that the 10% who do break 100 practice grooving their visualization.
Jack Nicklaus said that golf is 10% swing and 90% visualization. When
we watch pro golfers on TV, we can see what they do, but we can't see
what they are thinking. The same is true of successful business leaders;
we can see the effects of their thinking, but not the pictures, sounds
and feelings that run through their minds.
Groove Your Mind to Produce the Results You
Want
Practice picturing the result you want before you take your swing at it.
You might be surprised how much you can achieve and how effortlessly you
can do it.
© 2007 Jay Arthur, the KnowWare® Man, works with companies who want
to plug the leaks in their cash flow and people who want to master the mysteries
of the mind..
To have Jay Arthur to train your staff, contact Jay at (888) 468-1537, lifestar@rmi.net.
Order Debug Your Mental Software now:
Debug Your Mental Software Book $14.95 plus S&H
 Want
to discover your own "motivation profile?" Go to The
Motivation Profile and take the complete profile online FREE. Compare your
results with your spouse, kids, or coworkers to determine where you are most
likely in alignment and where you conflict. You can also order printed copies
of the motivation profile.
Motivation Profile $5.95 Plus S&H
 Order
Your Copy of Motivate Everyone, from Amazon.com
Or order Motivate Everyone now:
Motivate Everyone Hardcover Book $22.95 plus S&H
Do-It-Yourself Marriage Counseling with the Marriage Conflict Kit! Order Now!
Marriage Conflict Resolution Kit $97 plus S&H
Learn how to think like a comedian! Order Your Seventh Sense Now!
Your Seventh Sense - How to Think Like a Comedian $15.95 plus S&H
To subscribe to this Ezine, go to http://www.motivateeveryone.com/freeknow.html
© 2007 KnowWare International Inc. (888) 468-1537
knowwareman@qimacros.com
Home
| Lean Six Sigma
| QI Macros
| KnowWare
| Site Map
|
