I still suck at Golf...

I remember it like it was yesterday. In April, 1998 I had just finished a round of golf at the Royal Sydney Golf Club, in one of only a few Corporate Golf Days that this prestigious club holds each year. It was at the post game dinner in the Members dining hall after the round that I was singled out to win a prize. The Wooden Spoon for coming last in the Stableford Points Competition. With only 2 Stableford points, it was the worst Stableford result that the club had on record.

I decided then, that I hated golf.

It is amazing; the words that we use to tell ourselves what we want to believe. The truth of it was that I didn't hate golf: I just sucked at golf. I was terrible at it! But here is the thing. I had never had a lesson, I never bought my own clubs and I only ever played a round about 6 times over 15 years. How could I possibly be any good at it?

So, from April 1998 through to about 4 months ago, I told myself...and anyone that would listen, that I hated golf. I avoided it altogether.

Then, we bought a house just up the road from a Driving Range. With every glance at the high fences and the 'ping' sound emanating from within, I was lured closer and closer to making a decision to 'unhate' golf and perhaps give it another try.

In August, I mustered the courage to rent a club and 50 balls to see if my skill (not) would miraculously come out of hiding after a 22 year hiatus. Sadly, it did not.

But, things had changed. I found myself with time on my hands and a desire to take up a new sport. I walk a lot already and COVID-19 had shown a drastic jump in interest in golf, across the country, so it seemed a logical choice.

Yesterday, I had a round of golf with the great people from iLand Cloud at the Cammeray Golf Club. We played Ambrose, which I was thankful for and, low and behold, I managed to get the prize for Nearest the Pin, on the ninth hole. I proudly accepted my certificate and my $50 voucher at dinner to rapturous applause. To top it off, I was on the winning team for the day also...which of course my green shot at the 9th, helped secure.

So, what led to this rapid rise to fame and fortune. Had my latent talent finally decided to show itself? Was it just a lucky shot that I now reference to say that my game is improving? Well actually, it was neither!

In any endeavour, success leaves clues. Whether it be working with Partners and Suppliers through Tradewinds, or coaching people in their health with Eat, Move & Live Well, I have found that the recipe for improvement is always the same.

I don't profess to be a business guru or some leadership tsar. I am simply a guy that has learned a few key principles to making things work. Here are a few key elements that I know are necessary to succeed in any endeavour.

1. Make a Decision

Having a dream or goal, without action is just a wish or a whim. It is only when a decision to act is made, that the goal becomes an achievable outcome.

My decision to get better (just a bit better so that I would no longer embarrass myself) was the kernel of change and progress. I once heard it said that you can read books on learning to swim all you like, but until you jump in the water, you can never learn to swim. So it is with doing something new, trying something different or even picking up where you left off many years ago.

2. Act Now

There is never a perfect time. There is never the right time. The only time we have is NOW. Life is full of Trials, Tribulations, Tragedies and Triumphs (notice that I put Triumphs last). There is always a tendency to catch a boat to "Someday Isle". "Someday, I'll pick up my paint brush again." "Someday, I'll start that business we talked and dreamed about." "Someday, I'll lose that 12kg that I have put on. I just need to have everything on an even keel before I start." Ever been to that island? I bet you have.

Act now. There is never a period when you are on an even keel. Life isn't like that.

I coach people in their health all over Australia and New Zealand and I have found that the number one reason why people do not succeed is that they wait for the right time to start.

3. Develop Resilience

The moment that you make a decision to act, life and those that you love and are supposed to love you, those well meaning friends that should have your back, will throw rocks in your path.

"You can't do that. Our business is not built that way and it won't work, anyway. Is it even legal?"

"What are you doing that for. Now isn't the right time."

"Do you really think you can do that? There is so much risk in that. Be more conservative and keep your good job."

"What makes you think that you can lose weight this time. You have tried everything and it hasn't worked for you. Just relax. We love you the way that you are, anyway."

To really succeed, you will need to ride over the negative sentiments or well intentioned comments.

I work with IT Partners and Agents all over ANZ and the ASEAN region and it is often the same. "We think it is a great idea, but it wont work here." Meanwhile, we have hundreds of partners that are making it work.

4. Get a Coach and the right Tools

I expected to have talent for golf, even though I had no clubs, no consistency and no coach. What was I thinking?

5. Work hard...and then harder

There are plenty of talented people in the world. There are plenty of people that work hard in the world. It is only when you mix talent and hard work that the results will come. Amazingly, talent improves with hard work! Skills can be acquired with hard work. Results can become consistent, but only with hard work.

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States famously quipped, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

Here is how I applied these things to improve my golf game.

1. Make a Decision - I made the decision that I would invest my time, some money and physical, mental and emotional energy to improve my game. I worked out that the best measure of improvement was to actually gain a handicap from a course. Up to this point, my only handicap had been my thinking.
2. Act Now - By going to the driving range and renting that club, I acted on my goal. I didn't wait until I was ready and I didn't sit there studying videos on YouTube on how to have the perfect drive. I just acted. Ready, Fire, Aim... By acting, I overcame my fear of failing.
3. Develop Resilience - without realising it, some that are close to me reminded me that I have always said that "I hated golf", and that "you are terrible at golf". I did it anyway. No one has the right to hold you back from your goals. No one!
4. Get a Coach and the Right Tools - I invested. I booked in for a series of lessons with the local Golf Professional. (Doing this carries a high personal risk. When you ask someone to coach you, you are admitting that you need help. How many other circumstances in life can we apply this to. If you need help in any area of your life, put your ego in your pocket and ask for it.) I also bought a set of clubs. They only cost me $130 and they were more than 30 years old, but I bought them. After my 3rd lesson, I invested more heavily and bought a TaylorMade driver. It was new, but a superseded model and about $300 cheaper than the current model.
5. Work hard...and then harder - I have now had a total of 10 lessons from a professional. Golf lessons are not cheap, but I had determined to invest. (Point 4) In each 30 minute lesson, my coach, Rachel Bailey would get me to focus on changing just one thing. We were not trying to go from zero to hero in 30 minutes. Just change one thing each time. In between lessons, I would take myself off to the driving range and practice that one thing...over and over and over again. In any given week, I would be at the range 4 or 5 times, with a bucket of 100 balls. Minimum 400 golf strokes to practice one thing each week. Miraculously, that one thing would improve and Rachel would then focus on something else.

Once I had my new Driver, I invested even more heavily, upping each session at the driving range to 130 balls, twice a week, plus the normal sessions. I have also now had three games of golf in 4 weeks. Thanks must go to Greg Devine of ArbITrium Technologies for taking me out for my first game in 22 years. He had the appropriate amount of both sympathy and empathy to make it OK for me to complete the round.

I have calculated that since starting this quest, I have hit more than 8,000 golf balls and I am not stopping. I now do watch YouTube videos on golf and I am becoming slightly obsessed. None of this would be happening if I had not made the Decision (Point 1) to improve my game.

Just for the record, though. I still suck at golf.