New beginnings.

I always try and think of the first day in a new week as the beginning of the project.  No matter what has happened in the past, today is still the first and most important day.  The only difference is that my knowledge of the golf swing and mechanics has grown incredibly since the original first day.  That doesn’t mean that I have anything figured out or can ever assume I know how to do something without having to work extremely hard at it, because the second you let your guard down in this game you are doomed.

To date, I think that is the biggest lesson I have learned along the way.  Anything that requires focus and attention (painting, music, sport, chess, raising children, taking tests, etc) has to be treated with respect and deserves your utmost concentration.  If you let your guard down or get distracted at the wrong time the whole thing can come crashing down.

But it’s not just concentration.  Mood affects outcomes more than I ever imagined.  Good moods seem to produce precise and smooth motor control, whereas negativity and playing upset seems to tighten the muscles and produce cramped, uncreative shots.  Anger falls somewhere in the middle, some people can’t control themselves when mad, others fall into a deep concentration and force the results they need to get back to even.  I think I fall in the former on that one and know that I need to keep a steady head through a round to do well.  I’ve always had a tendency to get frustrated with imperfection, but you just can’t do that in golf.  It’s not about perfect, it’s about overcoming the obstacles along the way and limiting mistakes.

This reiterates some old blog posts, but I was thinking about it today and would like to offer it up again.  Bad shots happen; sometimes they are your fault, sometimes it’s the weather, sometimes just the luck of the bounce, but they are going to happen.  Once they occur, you have a choice to either let it get to you and fall into a poor round or to clear the mind and approach the next ball as a chance for redemption.  I think it’s easy to get over one bad shot, what makes an individual a good competitor is the ability to overcome a barrage of bad shots.  Some days things just don’t go your way and whether you stick it out and learn something or give up and walk away shapes who you are as a person.

Along those lines, it’s never to late to change who you are.  It’s not easy to change your thought processes, but if you are open with yourself and conscious of your actions then anything can happen.  I’ve found my own thoughts have changed over the past two years and in turn have changed who I am.  I have to be aware of my mood on the course in order to understand how my body will be acting during that round or practice session and I’ve caught myself doing the same thing off of the course.  I know when I haven’t gotten enough sleep, have worked too hard, haven’t eaten properly or need a day off.  Mood used to be a mystery to me, now it’s just the result of the actions I have taken in the past few days.  In the same way that you can become aware of what causes your moods, you can acknowledge destructive thought patterns and twist them into something positive.  I’m not a psychologist, but acknowledgement and awareness of the situation seems to be the key to change.

Golf is just a metaphor for life here.  This project isn’t really about golf, it’s about change.  It’s about what is possible through hard work.  It’s not about talent, it’s about the average giving it his all in the pursuit of specific excellence and everything that happens along that journey.  Every day can be a new beginning and every day can be a learning experience, but only if you choose to make it that.