The golf course can be an intimidating place for a novice golfer.  Trees. Water. Sand. Bird houses.  Parking lots.  All potential hazards at my level of expertise!

There is one course in particular that always turns me into knots.  The first hole has a long carry over the water with a skinny fairway on the other side.  Thanks for the confidence-builder right out of the gate!

Anyway, to limit my downside, I always used a scuffed up range ball on my first swing.  Why waste a perfectly good (and expensive!) ball when the chances of it resting in a watery grave are so high?

I never cared about losing the range ball and, in some ways, it helped ease the pain of its inevitable demise.

But after years of frustration, I finally realized that I needed to change my mindset.

Perhaps, I always ended up in the water because I didn’t care about the range ball?  Perhaps I always ended up in the water because I didn’t believe I was capable of success?

I switched to a more expensive ball and my results skyrocketed.  Somehow, placing a “real” golf ball on the tee gave me the confidence I needed to clear the water.  Putting something on the line and taking a vested interest in the outcome forced me to be at my best.

And isn’t that true of all us in our work and personal lives?

It’s All About Confidence

We can’t go into a challenging situation believing we are going to fail.

We don’t launch our own business and then hire mediocre employees.  We don’t pursue a strategic sale and then draw in crayon for the client pitch.   We don’t start off  a new relationship by wearing yesterday’s ketchup-stained clothes.

We have to go in to every new situation believing we are going to win!  We must exhibit confidence from the beginning.  And confidence means putting forth our best effort and our best resources possible.  Confidence means relentlessly preparing with victory in mind.  Confidence means doing everything we can to set ourselves up for success.

We Need To Have Skin In the Game

By passionately pursuing our goals, we will inspire all those around us.   By pouring our soul into a project, we send a message that we will be successful.  Everyone we interact with will recognize our quest for excellence.

And once we put in the time and leverage our resources, there is no turning back.  We don’t have the luxury of falling short.  We cannot casually give up on our dreams.   We have too much vested in our future success!

What If We Fail?

But putting our best foot forward and passionately pursuing our dreams does not guarantee success.

(Believe it or not, there are times when I tee up a sparkling golf ball fresh from the sleeve and still sink the Bismarck!)

Failing when we put our heart and soul on the line can have devastating consequences.  If failure is not an option, what happens when failure is a reality?  Our business goes belly up.  We lose the sale.  We lose the game.  Our relationship falls apart.

How do we recover?

Facing adversity is always challenging.  But if we exhibit confidence initially, it will be easier to rebound with confidence.  If we go all-in with our effort and still fail, it will be easier tap into that energy when we recover from the loss.

Our resiliency builds in proportion to our level of passion and effort.

Once we commit to winning, there is no loss that will keep us down forever.

We Will Win in the End

Nobody hits the perfect golf shot every time.  It is a humbling game.  But if we learn from our misses and confidently build toward a better swing, we will maximize our potential.

In the same way, we will never escape adversity in our business and personal life.  We will be humbled at some point in the journey.  But we can’t approach our life expecting to fail.  And we can’t let these temporary speed bumps derail us from our ultimate quest for success and happiness.

Stay confident.  Believe in the mission.  Invest in your future success.

And know, that even if we stumble, our resilience will win out in the end!

Until next week, keep smiling!