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May 2026 Blog
May Blog
So again, I am late to the game and missed April’s blog and instead of doing it late I think it is best to just get back on track with an early May blog. My time blocking practice to get things done needs a restart for sure. So here we go.
Perspective
I began my journey back to playing golf just over two years ago. In the prior 20 years, I probably played fewer than ten times, and let me tell you — it’s not like riding a bike. At times, it’s brutal. Then, as if the golf gods are playing games with me, it always seems that toward the end of a round I’ll have a good hole or hit a great shot that pulls me back from asking myself why I’m doing this in the first place.
Over the winter, I practiced a ton, hitting ball after ball, and I got better. But hitting balls in a simulator isn’t the same as playing golf out in the elements. I found that out quickly when I returned to the course this year. The same yips, topped balls, and ground burners were back — although to a lesser extent.
In life, we can let our environment, jobs, and the people around us dictate how we spend our days. We can get caught up in office drama, let a rainy day lower our energy, or allow a slow driver in the fast lane to get us all worked up. Luckily, there are breathing exercises, gratitude practices, and, if we’re observant enough, people and situations that reveal our own hypocrisy when we let the small things in life bring us down, demotivate us, and distract us from appreciating what we do have.
So, in golf, you hit a bad shot — again. If you’re like me, you start worrying about your swing and trying to fix five different things at once during a single swing. But something else needed to happen. Yes, my swing isn’t perfect every time, but no golfer’s swing is, no matter how good they are at the game. When you watch good players, you can tell there’s more going on. They have a level of concentration, a commitment to a plan, and they use visualization to see the result they want. They practice with a goal in mind instead of just going out and hitting ball after ball.
I’ve told my coach, Sam, many times that it’s the mental part of my game that’s failing me. A friend at the gym recommended a book specifically about the mental side of the game. The title says it all.
W. Timothy Gallwey wrote The Inner Game of Golf
First published in 1981, the book applies the principles Gallwey originally developed in his groundbreaking 1974 bestseller, The Inner Game of Tennis, to the sport of golf.
The core concept focuses on overcoming the self-doubt, nervousness, and lack of concentration that inhibit a golfer’s performance. Gallwey introduces the idea of the “inner game”—the psychological battle occurring within the player’s mind between “Self 1” (the conscious, critical ego) and “Self 2” (the unconscious, natural ability of the body). By learning to quiet the critical mind and trust their natural physical instincts, golfers can significantly improve their performance and enjoyment of the sport.
This book has been transformative for me when I practice the teachings on the course. I have hit more shots exactly how I was envisioning them this year than I did the last two years. There aren’t many feelings that are better feelings in golf and life when things happen exactly like you intended.
This book combined with another audio book “Zen Golf” by Dr. Joseph Parent have me focusing much less on my swing and has me much more focused on allowing my mind and body to do what they naturally can without me interfering.
"What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” -Maya Angelou
In golf we make a bad swing at a little white ball and we forget the beautiful course we are playing, the nature and animals that surround us, the friends we are sharing time with. We bring negativity into our heads instead of slowing down realizing it’s a game and we are supposed to enjoying it.
Life isn’t much different. Business as well. In life we might get frustrated and say “Oh no were going to be stuck in the plane for an hour due to weather” forgetting we are heading on vacation for a week with family and friends! In business we get irritated with small mistakes and let them cloud our judgement and for a moment we forget that our company has grown over 300% in last 5 years.
You’re going to hit a bad shot, frustration will happen, mistakes are inevitable. We are human, it’s all part of the game. Our response is up to us and how we let them affect us will determine if we continue to get better or if we succumb and keep doing the same thing with the same results. Insanity!