The last few months I have been playing some solid golf but have found myself trending in the right direction for over a year. I took some time to reflect on why that is and what it is that makes me great. I am at my best when I am content with my process and doing my best to execute that plain and simple. I am always feeling a fairly anxious energy on and off the course. I believe a lot of this energy simply comes from the excitement for life and the excitement for the desire to get better.
I get the most contentment and enjoyment out of my life and my golf game when I am obsessive over my process. Things like visualizing my shot, breathing deeply, going about my business with slow intention. These things all lead me to improvement in the area of managing my state. I find it to be simpler to focus on not getting upset and if I cannot manage to let go of some anger, I try to simply be aware of the anger until it passes. I find there is times this option is unsuccessful at reducing my frustration levels, although I have noticed an increase in joy when I simply laugh about it or at the very least force myself to smile. This shows me that I am at least making an attempt to find peace in the face of adversity. I am making the conscious effort to accept and detach as best I can and control what I can control. The focus being on what I can control maintains internal and external composure which gives me the space internally to then remind myself of how great I am and the energy to focus on my target.
Results have become a high priority in my game; this is not a way in which I can play my best golf and a forceful way to live life. The way for me to find results organically lies in my ability to commit and having the clarity in my process to recognize I will fail many times, letting go of the fear of that happening. This is an uncomfortable thing for me to accept, because I want so badly to produce excellent shots and excellent results. I am extremely proud of how far I have come in managing my state on the golf course, the work now lies in accepting the fact that I will be far from perfect every time I tee it up and frustrating things will happen that are both out of my control and in my control. I have had some invaluable experiences over the past couple years that made me stronger mentally and gave me perspective that some times unfair and painful things will happen, but I always have the ability to turn things around and make the most out of the moment no matter how dark it may seem. I am a brilliant and determined individual and am starting to accept that I do not have to do everything all at once to be great. My greatness will come and when I put my energy into doing things I can control and fully investing myself in those tasks one at a time. My perspective gets clouded when I am not patient with myself, when I choose to rush things and then get frustrated because I felt as though I wasted my time. The investment in myself through daily tasks and paying attention to my breath will give me the peace I need to go about my business and being happy with the life I get to live.