My brother Tim loves golf, but not the way most do. Sure, he loves being out in nature on beautifully manicured courses, hanging with friends and enjoying a break from it all. Me too. But what he loves more is the challenge of actually getting better, not just scoring better. There’s a huge difference, let me explain…
A year or so ago he posted a 66, a handful of strokes better than his personal best at the time. I was with him that day, it was great and we certainly celebrated the accomplishment. However, after the magic of the day wore off, and his game went back to normal, he was still left wanting more. Not a better score per se, he was after a better approach to the game as a whole. So he found a guy who was a little further along in his golfing journey and asked him for help – sound familiar? It took this guy no more than a few holes to give my brother the advice he needed to level up.
You see, Tim’s routine was to spend hours and hours of work on the range and then measure his progress on the course. It worked, he went from a 20 handicap to a 2 and by anyone’s standard, that’s pretty damn good. But this golfing guy explained that after a certain point, when your swing is solid (enough), there is no better place to practice than on the actual course itself, hitting real shots under real pressure. He even went so far to say that for Tim, playing 3 holes would be far more productive than hitting a hundred balls on the range. Mind. Blown.
Here’s the BTL application… at some point your CORE and OPUS will be strong (enough) to more intentionally integrate into real life situations. I had a client explain to me this morning that he’s traveled back home to attend the funeral of his friend’s mother. I asked him why he went, who will he be and what will he do. He said he hadn’t really thought about it that way. I told him this story about my brother and challenged him to do the same.
What about you? Are you freakin’ magic on the range where there’s no real pressure and it’s safe to miss? Are you happy with your current score and grateful it’s better than average? Or are you out on the course, hitting shots in real life situations with the intention of mastering the art of playing?
Tee it up, hit the damn ball, let’s go…
BUILT TO LEAD 