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WINTER TIME
I keep reading in the newspapers that January is supposed
to be the most depressing month and it carries over
into February! All the bills come in and there is nothing
to look forward to other than short days and bad weather!
Talk about post-hypnotic suggestion! Yet, it just goes
to show how we can be led into thinking in a certain
way if we follow along with everybody else! For me,
January is about planning, what to do next and how to
take things to a new level - an exciting time when you
can look at what you are doing well, what isn’t
so good and what you need to change.
Give yourself what I call the TRAFFIC LIGHT test.
RED – What do I need to STOP doing?
AMBER – What do I need to KEEP doing?
GREEN – What do I need to START doing?
Very simple, very easy and a deceptively simple way
of making progress because if you KEEP doing what works
and STOP doing what doesn’t, you WILL get to where
you want to go.
THANKS FOR THE MEMORY
When someone asks you “What’s the best
goal you have ever seen?” what springs to mind?
For me, its Ryan Giggs on his mazy run in the FA Cup
semi final, making the Arsenal defence look helpless.
How about the best innings at cricket or the finest
tennis match or more importantly the best golf shot
or the best round or most memorable victory you have
ever seen?
I am sure that as you have been reading this article,
numerous images will have flashed across the screen
of your mind as my words have stimulated your memory
into action.
And, as you went back in time to the various events,
I am sure you felt certain emotions. I cannot think
about Seve holing that winning put on the 18th at St
Andrews way back in 1984 without feeling a shiver run
down my spine, as the legendary Spaniard literally ‘willed’
the ball into the hole.
Memories create feelings; they evoke emotion, yet,
how many of you have ever considered HOW you actually
USE your memories?
Do your memories generally make you feel good or are
you a ‘horror film’ merchant who has developed
the ability to feel bad about themselves with hardly
any effort at all?
As a Sports Psychologist, I would go as far as to say
that the WAY you use your memory could be the SINGLE
biggest key in terms of how good you are at your sport
and, in fact, how happy you are in life in general.
Unfortunately, most of us have been conditioned from
an early age to delve into the scary movie section of
our past life because we tend to habitually focus on
what we have done wrong, as opposed to the times that
we have excelled.
I will always remember working with England Captain
Michael Vaughan in the Ashes winning year of 2005 (seems
a long time ago now!!) and after a couple of poor scores
in the first two Tests, he was beginning to doubt his
own ability and all the so called ‘experts’
were questioning his technique.
Well, you don’t suddenly become a poor batsman
overnight and I began to ask him a couple of questions
like “What’s the best innings you have ever
played?” and “What’s the best that
you have ever played against Australia?” and then
we went a step further and actually watched some video
of his finest innings.
As he became immersed in the memories of past success,
I asked him what he was thinking about at that time.
The century he scored at Manchester in the 3rd Test
and his comment about ‘trusting his instinct’
was testimony to the power of connecting to your past.
Your SUCCESSFUL past.
How would it be this year if you decided to become
ACTIVE in how you use your memory and how you connect
with the good feelings and sensations of past times
when you have performed?
The key is in understanding the way to OPEN UP the
memory banks of the mind.
For all of us, there will be good and bad stuff stored
in there but the CODE to the brain’s memory is
in one simple word - QUESTIONS.
The quality of your memories and which memories you
use, will be in direct proportion to the quality of
your questions.
If I keep asking my brain “What’s wrong
with my technique?” or “Why can’t
I putt?” or “Why did I lose?” then
the brain, just like a faithful master, will let the
genie out of the lamp and give you a series of examples
of just how useless you really are.
It is that simple really! Ask poor questions, get back
poor memories, feel bad, then play bad - a simple formula
that many have perfected.
I will always recall Johnny Miller saying what a fantastic
golf upbringing he had received and that his father
always used to ask him two questions when he came off
the course “What did you learn today?” and
“What did you enjoy?”
How would those two questions impact your golfing memories
as you left the course?
Not for one minute am I saying that you should ignore
your mistakes. Far from it. But, there is a big difference
between learning from a mistake and dwelling upon it.
So, it’s really up to you! If you want to keep
allowing your memory banks to make you feel bad and
lacking in confidence, then carry on with what you have
been doing up to now OR you could just decide to ask
yourself some BETTER QUESTIONS.
This is only a suggestion but perhaps you could ask
yourself these questions, give yourself a few quiet
moments with each answer and then see how you feel afterwards
:
• What is the best round that you have ever played?
• What is the best shot you have ever hit under
pressure?
• How does your swing feel when you are playing
great?
•What was your best ever putting round?
• What are you most proud of in golf?
Simple questions, but at a deep level, you are doing
something that only a tiny minority of people CHOOSE
to do which is RUN THEIR OWN BRAIN.
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