Measuring Success

“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”  -Winston Churchill

For most, golf courses are located on the corner of ‘Failure and Despair.’  Each round is filled with misdirected putts, errant shots and more. It’s no secret that golf is a game of misses.  So how do we stay enthusiastic?

Sarah Lewis of Yale’s study of elite athletes and performers discovered that “striving for mastery is valuing your own opinion of what you’re doing more than anyone else.” We must define our own measure of success and stop letting our score determine if we have success on the links.

Here are some examples of NEW ways to MEASURE SUCCESS:

• Today I stuck with my pre-shot routine on every shot.
• I managed my self talk after each shot by staying positive or neutral.
• I was a fun playing partner today.
• I did my golf stretching routine today.
• I recovered from a bad hole by managing my emotions on the next shot.
• I did not let outside conversations and/or conflicts affect my focus on every shot.
• I took a deep breath before every shot.
• I practiced with a purpose today.

As the ‘ol saying goes, YOU ARE NOT YOUR NUMBER. Very cleche, but oh so true!  Let me know if you need help with this.

Dodie Mazzuca is the Director of Instruction at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, AZ (Nov-April).  She also teaches golf in Santa Cruz, CA (May-Oct).