Love it or leave it

There’s no difference between us and them.

That’s the premise of The Dan Plan and what I have believed all of my life.  There are some physical and mental differences between all of us, but none of those are free tickets in life (unless you are lucky enough to be the bearded woman or lobster man in which case you have a career path set out for you) and if you want to achieve you have to push your limits.  This is where deliberate practice and passion come in.  One feeds the other and with both there really aren’t limits to human abilities.

Sometimes you need some first-person experiences to know what you have always “known” and this past week was one of those times.  I don’t want to take anything away from the amazing achievements of anyone and I fully respect the men and women who have risen above the pack in every field.  These people are looked up to and for good reason, because they have managed to do incredible things in their lives.  However, they are no different than you or me in most every way.  The one, and perhaps only, tangible difference is the amount of passion and determination they bring to their area of expertise.

While in San Francisco last week at the Champions Tour event I was able to meet a couple of the golfers and my first impression was how down to earth and nice these guys are.  I was struck by their “normalness.”  But by the end of the trip I had enough time with them to get a feel for how they were different.  There is a sort of mystique that people associate with great athletes, but they are no different than anyone else out there except for their passion, determination and love for whatever they do.  You could tell that they love golf and want to be out there.  You could tell that they had always loved the game and never questioned what they wanted in life.  You could see their open-mindedness about golf and how they were constantly searching for ways to improve in the game.  This ability to search for improvement as well as the sustained passion for the game is why they are still performing at the levels they are at and how they got there in the first place.

I’m more confident than ever that this is possible and I fully believe that nothing is in between average and greatness and that the path is as simple as passion, hard work and an open mind.  Always be deliberate in your practicing and keep the love for the game (or whatever it is you are doing) alive.  If you stick to these simple rules there truly is no difference between us and them.

On a side note, I’m finally breaking out the driver this weekend for the first time.  I haven’t been this excited about a new club since we went from putter only to introducing the Pitching Wedge.  I know there will be a big learning curve with it, but I’m ready to learn and ready to see what it’s like to actually hit a driver.  I’ve never swung one.  Period.