Play Your Best Game »Change Your Mind
Change Your Mind About Golf
Dr. Paula King
Last month I talked about how your thoughts create your feelings and how those feelings are the catalyst for behaving in a certain manner. I asked at the end of the article how many of you were saying something like: “But, that’s just the way I think—I can’t stop it—it’s just the way I am.”
Well, I’m here to challenge that notion. You change your mind all of the time—it’s a very common process—you do it many times a day, just like I do. Let me give you some examples:
When I awoke this morning I said: “Self, let’s go for a walk first thing this morning.” Then I looked out the window and realized there was a steady rain falling. I thought over my decision about the walk—and I changed my mind. I decided I had a slight sore throat and that getting wet in the chilly morning air probably wasn’t a good idea for me. I decided to take a walk later in the day when the air was warmer. I then went to the kitchen to fix breakfast and had yet another experience of changing my mind. My habit has been to have toast, fruit, and cereal for breakfast, however as I started to prepare my usual fare my husband walked in and reminded me we had agreed to begin the popular high protein-low carb way of eating—I suddenly found myself frying bacon.
You consciously change our mind many, many times every day. The question is: “How do you change your mind?” Whether you are changing your mind about what to eat, where to go, what to say to a cranky boss, or how to respond when you’ve just dumped your golf ball into the water—the process of changing your mind is the same
Changing your mind is a four step process: The first step is noticing what thought or idea is in your mind when you are confronted with any given situation or event. This may sound silly, but the fact is that most of your thoughts happen by habit and you are not fully aware or conscious of them. So start by simply noticing the thoughts you are having in response to a given situation. It can be especially enlightening to have your little observer self sit on your shoulder and watch the thoughts that pop out when you’re experiencing a situation that is challenging or difficult.
The nest step is to ask yourself: “What am I hoping to accomplish in this situation?” “What’s my goal or objective?”
Then ask the little observer self if the thoughts you are having are helping you accomplish your goal. Are the thoughts working for you?
Again, let’s look at a specific golf example: I’ve just hit my ball into the water on a par three. Maybe my first thought is: “That was a stupid shot.” Or, maybe: “How did that happen?” Or, it might be: “Oh no, not again, I always hit it into the water on this hole.”
What do you guess will happen if you tee it up again and hit your second shot with any of these thoughts directing your feelings and behaviors? Do you think you will increase or decrease the chance of reaching your goal of getting the ball on the putting surface? My experiences with all level of players say that you will dramatically decrease the chance of getting the ball on the green if you start your shot with these type thoughts in mind.
The final step of the process is choosing thoughts like:
“I remember the last time I hit it on the green—I can clearly imagine that shot.”
“I’ve been practicing this distance and know how to make this shot.”
“I need one more club for this distance.”
“I’m going to hold my target in mind this time.”
“I’m going to be sure I go through my complete pre-shot process before I make my second shot.”
“I’m going to step away from the tee, take a deep breath and remember a time when I felt totally confident and relaxed, then step up to the ball holding those qualities and feelings in my mind.”
Choose new, helpful, truthful, thoughts to hold in place of your old habitual ones and you’ve just changed your mind about golf and increased the chance you will reach your personal goals
Happy Golfing!
Comments or questions? Reach Dr. King at paula@drheadcoach.com
or her website, www.drheadcoach.com
