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7 Life Lessons I Learned From Golf

7 Life Lessons I Learned From Golf

by Parker · 77 things on NewTwos

I grew up playing golf with my father and older brother.
Our dad would take us out for a few holes even before we knew how to keep score.
Golf is an extremely challenging game, much like life can be.
Here are 7 life lessons I've learned from Golf backed by notes from the book "Putting Out Of Your Mind" by Bob Rotella
Click here to read all of my notes on "Putting Out Of Your Mind" by Bob Rotella.
Your mindset is most important
"The secret to putting is not in the stroke. It is in the mind. When you putt, your state of mind is more important than your mechanics."
In life, your mindset effects everything.
If you're positive, you will perform well and people will want to be around you. If you're negative, you'll come up with excuses and people won't like you.
"The difference is in catching yourself when your attitude wavers and getting it back to where it should be sooner."
We need to be aware of our minds, introduce productive thoughts and attitudes that lead us to our goals and the type of person we want to be.
"If you think the putter you’re using will help you, it probably will."
Your routine matters
"Have a routine to always fall back on. David Duval's involves a decisive read so he doesn't second guess himself."
Routines matter in life, too.
If you have healthy habits and do activities that progress you towards your goals, you'll increase your likelihood of accomplishing them.
"The climactic part of a good routine is very simple: putt to make it."
If you set up and practice your routine nearly every day, you'll be ready when you need to.
Life is a lifelong practice
"Great putting isn't something you suddenly "get" and thereafter always have. It's a longterm challenge that you have to work on every day."
You always need to be practicing because you'll always have new challenges.
We practice to build skills so that when challenges present themselves, we're prepared to act.
"You putt best when you’re feeling loose, decisive, and confident."
The more you practice, the more confident and calm you'll feel.
"Practice wisely. Practice in ways that build confidence."
If you take on too big of challenges too early, you may feel defeated and lose confidence.
Start with small challenges to build your confidence and continue practicing.
Do what you love
"You must love putting if you want to be a great putter. You must always look forward to the challenge of holing the next putt. At the same time, you can't get wrapped up in putting statistics, or whether other people think you're a great putter."
You must do what you love if you ever want to get good at something.
Loving what you do is the only way you'll stick with something long enough to get good at it.
"The only way to do great work is to love what you do." - Steve Jobs
Always have a goal in mind
"Just think about the target and let the putt go."
Pick your goal.
Decide where you want to be and what you want to do and then you'll know where to start and what you need to do to get there.
"You should pick the smallest target you can focus on."
Get very specific about the goal you have and stay open to different ways of reaching it.
"On every putt, see the ball going into the hole with your mind's eye.” - Gary Player
Envision yourself achieving your goal.
Envision yourself doing the work in order to reach your goal.
Once you make it real in your mind, you can do anything.
"Do not worry about the perfect stroke. Focus exclusively on the target."
Don't worry about doing everything perfectly every day. Just keep your goal in mind and keep working towards it to the best of your ability.
"The proper mental approach to a long putt is, 'I'm going to hole this one by making the ball fall just over the front edge of the cup.'" - Cary Middlecoff
Believe in yourself
"You have to feel that you are a great putter to be one. If you start to tell yourself that you can't putt, you can bet your bottom peso that you won't be able to get it in the hole from three feet." - Lee Trevino
Believe in your abilities before you've earned it.
Believe you are capable of achieving whatever your goal is so long as your practice and stick with it.
"People tend to become what they think about themselves."
Think positive thoughts about yourself.
Think about who you will become if you follow your routine and continue to practice.
'Putt as if it has been preordained that the ball will fall no matter how you stroke it."
Believe that you will archive success no matter what you do so long as your put in the work and continue doing what you love.
"If you allow your brain and the nervous system to perform at their best, without interference from your conscious mind, they can do some remarkable things."
How you behave matters
"I would like to be able to knock in as many putts as Billy does, but even more than that, I would like to be able to act like he does when he's doing it—with an air of unconcern as to whether the putt drops or not." - Arnold Palmer
Your behavior matters.
You should behavior the same way whether you are met with success or failure.
That is the true test of character and confidence.
"Putt as if you don't care whether you make it or not."
Your emotions can interfere with your actions. Anger and frustration can kill your focus and prevent you from performing at your best.
"Remember that it's how you respond to your misses that matters, not whether you miss. You can choose to be angry about your misses or you can choose to accept them."
How you respond is up to you and it says a lot about you.
"Calmness says a player has too much confidence in his putting to get upset over a miss."
Questions to ponder
Here are some questions to think about to be more aware of how you are showing up in the world.
"Do you welcome the challenge of putting?"
Do you welcome challenges in life?
"Do you execute your mental and physical routine on every putt?"
Do you execute your mental and physical routine every day?
"Do you refuse to let missed putts bother you?"
Do you refuse to let bad results bother you and prevent you from making further progress?
"Do you always putt to make it?"
Do you always act to reach your goals?
Thank you for reading.
Click here to read all of my notes on "Putting Out Of Your Mind" by Bob Rotella.