This may be the most important lesson you can learn in golf, so pay attention! – Your success in golf is the icing on the cake, not the cake.”
Unfortunately, countless golfers get this wrong and are left empty and without direction in life when their competitive careers end. They make achieving success in golf the most important thing. The problem is that at some point your competitive playing career will end and ultimately you do not have full control over the results. You can control your effort and attitude but you can’t directly control your results.
It’s so important to keep golf in perspective, it shouldn’t be your number one priority. There are other things in life that are more important than golf. Things like faith, family, school, etc. It will be a little bit different for everyone.
But if your “be all end all” is to achieve success in golf, you are setting yourself up for failure. If you don’t reach your goals you won’t be happy. And even if you do reach your goals, the happiness you feel will wear off.
You hear about it all the time – athletes who go into depression when their competitive careers end and others who go in and out of retirement. These athletes probably have put too much emphasis on the sport they compete in and now aren’t sure what to do with their lives because they lack perspective.
The bottom line is that the things you do and achieve should not define you, no matter how passionate you are about these things. Go after your goals with all your blood, sweat and tears but make sure you keep your priorities rightly ordered. One thing I know is that when all is said and done, God is not going to demand any trophies from us. Keep things in perspective and you will enjoy competitive golf more and be more likely to compete fearlessly.
It feels good to compete and win but make sure success is just icing on the cake!
If you need help putting things in perspective, removing pressure and reducing nerves you can sign up for a free session with a Golf Mindset coach here: https://www.zwinningmindset.com/programs/golf/