Rules to Improve

If it feels easy, you are probably not improving.  If you are doing something different it should feel different.  Improvement comes with some rules. 

Rule 1.  To make real improvement you must get comfortable being uncomfortable. 

Rule 2.  If your focus is on the result, then you are not focusing on the right thing.

Rule 2A:  Parents of junior golfers, if your son or daughter is struggling in tournaments, the answer is NOT to make it easier for them by trying to remove the developmental pains of learning physical and mental skills that will stick with them for life.

Rule 3.  Improvement is a slow process of doing little things extremely well. 

Rule 3A: Skipping valuable lessons in the developmental process is a recipe for long term disaster. Being able to recognize the correct little things to work on is important to survival in any competitive environment. 

Rule 4.  Improvement is not a random event; it is a planned event.  If you ask any successful athlete or person in business, they will tell you that success isn’t random, they planned for it!

Rule 4A: The shotgun or quick fix methodology that most golf instructors follow is not a model to emulate or follow.  If you’re working with someone that has no basis of a plan that doesn’t have your short- and long-term goals in mind, it probably is not right for you.

If you are not improving, make sure you look into the mirror and ask yourself these two questions:

Am I doing all I can to improve myself along the path I have chosen? 

Am I following my plan to success or am I being afraid of the truth and not working on the things that will make me uncomfortable to get me through another phase of development towards my bigger goal?

It is up to you! Next time you are struggling to improve ask yourself – Am I uncomfortable with this? Am I focused on the right things? Am I engaged in the process of working my plan?

Enjoy Your Journey!