Archived Newsletters - Strategies For Success :
Newsletter October 2006
Vol. VII, Edition 10
STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
by Joan King
Why do some people succeed and some do not?
There are people with natural athleticism who find using their bodies in sport easy. Regardless, there are ways of thinking to succeed that can be learned and used by all of us regardless of our genetic heritage.
Strategies are how you organize your thoughts and behavior to accomplish a task. Strategies always aim for a positive goal. To succeed you need to believe you can do it or you won’t commit fully. You must also believe that you deserve to succeed, and that it is worth the necessary practice and preparation.
Highly successful people have a tendency to look at their past experiences differently than those who see their past as a problem and worry about it happening again. People who are successful think about their accomplishments first and their setbacks as "learning experiences", rather than as failure. As human beings, we learn by experience. There is really no such thing as failure, only feedback.
Golf is a game where there is unlimited learning. When you are playing “in the zone” you are experiencing ultimate joy and ease, and are not learning anything. It is the ultimate feeling of joyous success. When you are not playing in this state, you are open to learning from your shots that did not happen as you expected. If you do not learn from your mistakes, there will be no feedback to move you forward to success.
Studies have shown that people who are successful, whether in sports or in recovery from cancer, have a total belief in the likelihood of their own success. Those who did well had a positive attitude and high expectations for achievement. These people were motivated by the belief that they would make a difference. They have also found that this desire and ability to be at the peak of your own success is within each of us, without exception. Those who did not do well were typically negative or tentative about their performance abilities.
These greater capabilities and qualities are within you. Following are three perceptions you can use to organize your inner mind for producing winning results; association, dissociation, and modeling.
Association:
To be associated means you are experiencing your swing and your golf game through your own eyes, feeling your own physiology, thinking about things with your own values through your own mental filters.
Successful people associate with the times they were successful. Pro golfers remember the last great shot they hit with a certain club that they are about to hit. They bring it up from their memory bank, and see it, and feel it. Their conversation will begin with an “I” or a “we” statement.
Always associate with a good swing.
Dissociation:
To be dissociated is a different perspective where you are the observer, watching yourself play. This perspective is more neutral and allows you to be detached and see in an objective way as an observer from the outside.
Examples of dissociation would be seeing yourself on a movie screen or seeing yourself floating above an event.
Arnold Palmer described himself playing “in the zone” as, “floating above myself, watching myself play.”
Modelling:
In this perspective you take on someone else’s experiences. It is like stepping into the shoes of another person and experiencing something through their eyes, their mental filters, and their physiology. Think of being in a movie theater, watching an engrossing film—you naturally adopt a character’s feelings, and become him/her in your imagination.
Have you ever gone to watch a pro golf tournament, spending the day watching them play and then play very well the next day? Unconsciously you took on the physiology--the rhythm, tempo, mannerisms of those players. Using your mind and body the same way a peak performing pro does immediately increases the quality of your play. Most players I talk to have an image of the persona they would like to imitate; someone like Annika or Ernie.
Mental Imagery Technique:
First, picture yourself dissociated (watching from outside yourself) playing golf with all the success and skill that you can imagine. Then become yourself (associated/seeing everything through your own eyes) playing and feeling the excellence of playing at your peak performance level. If you have a problem switching from the dissociated to the associated state, imagine that it is a movie, and see yourself moving out of your seat and into the movie.
Next, think of someone who has the kind of game you dream of having. Imagine them clearly playing at their peak performance level. Watch what he/she is doing. Is there anything they are doing you want to incorporate into yours? How do they feel? What do they know? What do they see?
Look away and become yourself again, making any changes after observing your model. See, hear, feel whatever level of excellence you can imagine. Enjoy the pleasure of becoming your model of excellence.
Success in the Future:
In 1974, Gary Player won his first Masters’ championship. At the bottom of the giant green scoreboard, the previous winner’s name, Ken Venturi, was inscribed in gold lettering. Each morning before his round, Gary would walk up to the scoreboard, look at Venturi’s name (disassociate) and in his mind, superimpose his own name and feel (associate) the success of winning.
Mental Imagery Technique:
Imagine a situation in the future where you desire to be successful. It could be tomorrow’s round or a special tournament in the future. It might be easier if you close your eyes—imagine the success and how you want it to be in the future.
Imagine seeing yourself on a golf course in the future in a compelling success-oriented movie. Put it on a wide screen, 3-dimensional, in Technicolor, with stereophonic sound. Stay dissociated—just watching.
Run the movie and watch what happens. You may want to run several different versions of the movie about how to achieve your success.
It is important to now run a congruency check. Be aware of any internal reaction. Are there any parts of you that are objecting? Or are all parts of you congruent, and wholeheartedly accepting? Do you want to become the successful person you see?
Make any adjustments to your movie so that you will. You may have to make minor adjustments or do something entirely different.
Run your movie again incorporating the changes. Notice what happens this time and your response.
Now that you have created your future the way you desire, become this person (associate). Step into this person. Enjoy the successful golf experience. Feel how good it feels to experience success.
When you are satisfied with the result, open your eyes and know that the process has already been started. You have consciously visualized your success and now your subconscious mind is working on producing the result you want.
Your Strategy for Success:
Imagine it:
Everything begins with a thought. One of your most powerful success tools is your imagination. Create a blueprint of success using your imagination. Picture what you want to happen, not what you fear. Move toward the success you want, not away from it. Always picture yourself as already having the game and the successes you desire.
Believe it:
Move your intention from wanting to a strong belief. Believe that the achievement of your goal is worth doing. What will you gain by achieving your goal?
You must believe that you can do it. You must believe in your ability to succeed. Remember all the successes you have already had.
Plan it:
It’s not what you have that counts; it is how you use it. Set your short term, intermediate and long range goals as these are the milestones on your way to success. Success is a journey, not a destination. Measure your success by the accomplishment of your objectives.
Achieve it:
Construct your game for the future today! Now that you have a plan, it won’t work unless you implement it. The future belongs to those who believe in and act on their dreams.
THE ART OF ACHIEVEMENT
YOU HOLD IN YOUR HAND THE CAMEL’S HAIRBRUSH
OF A PAINTER OF LIFE.
YOU STAND BEFORE THE VAST WHITE CANVAS OF TIME. THE PAINTS ARE YOUR THOUGHTS, EMOTIONS AND ACTS.
THROUGH THE POWER OF YOUR CREATIVE IMAGINATION, YOU CATCH A VISION… YOU DREAM A DREAM.
YOU VISUALIZE YOURSELF AS THE PERSON AND
THE GOLFER YOU WANT TO BE.
YOU STRIVE TO MAKE THE IDEAL IN YOUR MIND BECOME A REALITY ON THE CANVAS OF TIME.
YOU SELECT AND MIX THE POSITIVE COLORS
OF HEART, MIND AND SPIRIT
INTO THE QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE LIVING;
PATIENCE, DETERMINATION, ENDURANCE,
SELF-DISCIPLINE, DISCERNMENT, WORK, PLAY,
LOVE, TRUST, AND FAITH.
EACH MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE IS A BRUSH STROKE
IN THE PAINTING OF YOUR GROWING CAREER.
THE ART OF ACHIEVEMENT IS THE ART OF MAKING
YOUR LIFE A MASTERPIECE.
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