I do not know any successful business people who made it to the top that didn’t have a plan for their success. More importantly they did not have their parents removing obstacles along the way, more often than not they had to learn the hard way up the mountain. So, how did they do it? This usually begins with a personal purpose statement. What is my purpose? Why is this my purpose? How am I going to accomplish this? What is the price I must pay to do this?
A purpose driven life is powerful, but it can lose its energy when it is not mapped accordingly. Now this is not to say that your journey will not take you in many different directions or have its ups and downs. There will be occasions when you will feel lost and even overwhelmed but if you know what your dream is, your purpose and a smart plan will always help navigate you back on course.
Your dream determines your goals, goals map out your actions, your actions create results, your results bring fruition to your purpose.
Doesn’t this sound like how you can be successful in golf? To accomplish what you want in golf you must set out with what it is you want (purpose) from the game, maybe it’s to play college golf, to be #1 player in the world or maybe to be the best amateur player in your state? Whatever it is, once you have created that dream you must create the map to get there.
Assess your game, you can start with our Player Development Index(PDI) Self-Assessment on the Junior Golf Hub mobile app, this quick assessment will help you reveal a starting point. It encompasses a “grit or determination” test to help you understand your awareness as to whether you have the internal fortitude to stick with your dreams and goals. After you have taken your self-assessment and you would like it validated, move to our coach guided PDI Assessment, this is a good way to have a marker to determine where you are now and plan where you would like it to go? This is where I give WARNING to PARENTS and over-zealous coaches, DO NOT TRY TO MAKE THE PATH EASIER BY CLEARING THE JUNGLE, DO NOT TRY TO SKIP STEPS OF DEVELOPMENT, IT WILL ONLY LEAD TO GREATER DISAPPOINTMENT!!!!!
Create your map to improve. This could be for putting, short game, full swing, course strategy or emotional management on the course and in tournaments. Whatever it is, a map to keep you on track needs to be in place otherwise you will likely falter when it comes to reaching your dream. Your map will include some small hills to climb, some mountain ranges to cross and at some point, you will look up to see Everest! Like every person who has made the climb up Everest, they did it with a map, a solid plan to reach “check points”. Check points or what we would call our PDI Assessment, after years of learning from thousands of players we have determined that a Player Development Index is more powerful than a USGA Index for golfers because we know that if an athlete works on the lead factors the results will take care of themselves by 3% a year. Over time with the right purpose, you will reach the top of your Everest, or die trying!
Mapping your success in life and golf require the same things, create the map/goals, do not be quick to judge isolated incidents of defeat failures, take a disciplined approach with your actions, your actions will yield results, your results will bring you to your purpose!
Enjoy Your Journey!
