January is upon us once again, and we all know what that means: It’s new years resolution time!
This is the perfect time to make positive and long lasting changes in your golf game and life. Unfortunately, most of the people who decide to set new years resolutions do it for the short term, but not the long term. And as the saying goes they “fall short” of the golf game and life they deserve.
I would like to take this opportunity to give you a mental golf tip that will help you reach, not only your goals, but also your dreams, so you can make 2013 the beginning to even greater things to come.
At Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy, we combine the practice of goal setting from sport psychology with mental coaching to form a powerful hybrid known as goal mapping.
I would like to give you a couple tenets from our goal-mapping program that will make the difference in your pursuit of personal excellence this year.
First and foremost, begin with your dream destination. Decide exactly where you want to be at the end of this year with your golf game. What do you want? What would make it a successful year? This is a critical step to making this year turn out the way you want it to.
You must be specific and detailed. Just like during a round of golf, if you are unclear how you want to hit a shot or where you want the ball to end up, you won’t be fully committed. Your mind will waver standing up over the ball and doubt will creep in.
It’s very important that you know exactly what you want so you will be fully committed. During this year, you will be tested. It’s never easy reaching your dreams, so you need to know your end game. You need to know the part of the green you are shooting for and the exact path you want to take to get there.
Secondly, your dream destination must be compelling. Being specific and detailed isn’t enough. Your goals have to be something that drive you and get you excited to pursue every day. In turn, they must be your goals. You can’t be doing it for anyone, but yourself.
An end of the year goal that is specific and compelling is more than half of the equation.
The final aspect of goal mapping and mental coaching I would like to cover is taking small incremental steps to reaching your long-term destination.
Even a compelling and specific goal can seem out of reach when it’s 365 days away. So you need to plan accordingly and break the goal down further into shorter-term processes that are daily, weekly, and monthly. When you have a clear end game and smart steps to get there over the year, you will have a map to reaching your dreams.
Want to work with or ask Dr. Dan a question? Shoot him an email at
[email protected].
