Embrace Failure and Dump Perfection

This summer has been a HUGE learning and growth opportunity for me. Let’s just say I got a little side tracked in my journey. Fortunately, it only happened for a short moment in my long road to becoming the best coach and instructor I can be.

I have learned two very important lessons this summer.  First, failure has become my new best friend. Actually embracing the idea that I cannot learn, succeed and reach my goals without failure. I know this may sound simple, but in my world and the people I see everyday do not like to embrace failure. Somewhere along the way we (humans who play golf) accepted an idea that we are not allowed to hit bad shots, or miss putts or choke under pressure. But without these failures, we cannot learn how to be better tomorrow.

Starting today, embrace your failures as a way to improve. Be willing to experience a bad shot or a missed putt. Be open to the possibility you may hit it sideways off the tee box. When you allow failure to be part of your game you are also allowing change to happen.

Lesson number two. “Perfection is a poison, disguised as a vitamin.”
 
If you have a pulse and you play golf, you know what this means. We place perfection on a pedestal like it's something we all try to achieve. Unfortunately the harder you reach for it, the further you get from achieving your goals. STOP trying to be perfect today. You are wasting precious time reaching for something you will never accomplish. Today dump your desire to be perfect, embrace your failures, learn from them and know that tomorrow is only going to be better because of your struggles today.

What failures do you need to embrace today and start improving on tomorrow?

For me it has been a dream I have been working on for the last year. As you know, I’m very motivated to help my students enjoy their golf journey. So I came up with this idea to create a website where students can learn through video coaching lessons made by me and also have a place to store lesson videos and notes for future reference. This style of learning is more productive for students who are visual learners and who may need a consistent style of instruction. I know what you're thinking. “Great idea! You should do that.” I know right! Well, little did I know how extremely difficult this process was going to be. First, after months of failing and growing frustration, I had to finally accept that I needed more practice. Failing was going to be phase 1 before I could produce videos I felt are acceptable for production. Next, I had to boot the idea of perfection out the window. Seriously the hardest thing I have ever done. And trust me, I’m still not there. But slowly the "imperfect" coaching videos are getting done. Which is better than giving up.

This weekend look at your golf game as an opportunity to learn from your failures. After your round of golf, right down three bad shots you hit or an area of your game you were not satisfied with. What can you learn from the failure? For example, I have control issues and when I get under pressure I try to control the putter head instead of letting it swing freely. And I realized it all comes from grip pressure. After months of failing I was able to embrace the bad putting stroke and start working on something productive.