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What’s The Missing Link to Your Performance?

By Doug Nielsen

You are on the 9^th hole ready to tee off. You grab your driver and approach the ball preparing to swing. You take a deep breath, look at the ball, and then. . . it happens! Your mind starts to go wild. You wonder if you have the correct grip, the proper stance and the correct hip alignment. Then you remind yourself to follow through -- like you have been practicing. You swing and connect with the ball, but disappointingly it bounces off one tree to the next, resembling pinball much more than golf!

Have you experienced a situation similar to this, where you have worked so hard, you have practiced, you have double checked yourself, you have stayed up late working…but it didn’t seem to help?

What went wrong?

Bob Rotella, in his book - Golf is Not a Game of Perfect- talks about the importance of trust when it comes to performance. He explains that the time to practice is when you are in practice and the time to perform is when the game is on. This means that at the point of performance, you must learn to let go of erroneous thoughts, trust yourself, and totally go for it. Do not ruminate about details or worry about this or that. Instead, powerfully focus on the outcome you want and nothing more. Let go of any thoughts contrary to your outcome and replace them with thoughts of the desired outcome.

For example, on the links, when preparing to hit the ball, do not entertain thoughts about your grip, swing, or stance. Instead, look at and focus on where you want the ball to go and then hit the ball. You move in the direction of your dominant thinking. The same holds true in life. When it’s show time, you must trust and let go.

There is a time to make things happen and a time to let things happen. Trust is the wisdom to know the difference.

When it comes to finding peace in life, practicing “trust” seems to be a cornerstone. Trust is the conscious decision to buy in to the adage that “what will happen will happen” whether you are afraid or not. So trust and go forward with confidence.

Coming from a place of trust allows you to focus 100% on the goal you want as opposed to coming from a place of fear that would have you think about everything but your goal.

During a period of time when we thought our son, Stratton, might have a brain tumor, I wrote a song titled – “Eagle” – for him. As it turns out, we were blessed that he did not have cancer. However, the experience was one of the most frightening of my life and served as the impetus for this song. It’s a simple song with a powerful message of trust. Below are the words:

Eagle

On a ledge, you’re looking down
Afraid to fly, might hit the ground
You’ve got wings, but don’t know why
Afraid to try, you’re afraid to fly
But deep inside you know you’re an Eagle

Eagle spread your wings and you fly high
You’re an eagle, meant to fly so high
Fly high eagle

A distant voice, it beacons you
To trust the wind, it will carry you
You’ve got wings, you were meant to fly
Soar and touch the sky
And now you’ll know the honor it is to be an eagle

Eagle, spread your wings and you fly high
You’re an eagle, meant to fly so high
Fly high eagle
Spread your wings, now touch the sky
Fly high eagle

What cliff are you holding onto for false safety? Is it time for you to surrender to the wind and trust that the wind will carry you? Certainly practice and preparation are necessary, but when it’s time to fly, spread your wings and soar without hesitation or doubt.

This Month's
Challenge:

What part of your life could you use more trust in? I invite you to:

1) Identify an area where you need to have more trust;

2) Let go of trivial thoughts that shut off trust;

3) Replace them with thoughts of trust and confidence;

4) Surrender to the outcome that you want, focusing solely on the goal you want;

5) Spread your wings and soar.

Until next time, remember to take life by the helm and smooth sailing, even in the storms.