Monday Motivation - Playing It Safe Is Playing For Second Place

The 2011-12 US Masters came down to a sudden death playoff between Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen.

On the second playoff hole, Bubba found himself in trouble. His tee shot had put him well off the fairway and into the trees.

He had a choice to make.

Play it safe and tap it back into the fairway?

Or go for it and try to hit a miracle shot onto the green?

Bubba went for option b and went for it.

Of course, there was a considerable risk with going for it.

What if he messed up the shot?

What if he looked stupid in front of all those people and millions of television viewers?

We now know that Bubba went for it and hit one of the most amazing shots in golfing history and created one of the greatest clutch moments in sports. He couldn’t see the target from behind a television stand, so he hit a shot that swerved about 40 yards in the air to the middle of the green.

If he had played it safe, he would have come second, but he took a risk and now has a new green jacket in his wardrobe.

In life, we often have a similar choice to make.

We can play it safe, be conservative, hide in the crowd, try not to stand out too much, do what everyone else would do, play by the rules, listen to those who would say, “Don’t do it, you’re crazy” and guarantee second place.

Or we can go for it, take a risk, truly test our skills and give ourselves a chance of winning.

If you play it safe, you won’t win.

If you take a risk, you give yourself a chance.