Failure

Failure is such a powerful word. Read the definitions below.

• lack of success
• falling short
• failing to perform a duty or expected action

No wonder we experience fear on and off the golf course. Nobody wants to be associated with those definitions. So how do we learn to handle and deal with fear in our lives?

 

I believe the key to better handling fear in our lives is to change our attitude towards it. Let’s start by clearing up a common misconception; failing does not make you a failure. Everyone that has ever lived has failed and continues to fail. We especially need to understand this point with golf. Golf is a game of failure. We fail to hit fairways, we fail to hit greens and we fail to make putts every time we tee it up. None of these events make us failures as people. Tiger Woods just failed to win the PGA with a final round lead. Does that means he’s a failure as a person? Absolutely not!

When we begin to change our attitude towards failure, it will start to release it’s power. And this is true on and off the golf course. We don’t try shots on the course because of the possible negative outcome. We don’t start businesses because of the possible negative outcome. We’re afraid to tell people our goal of becoming a scratch golfer because it may never happen and so we don’t even try. We’re afraid to share our goals and dreams in life because they may never happen and so we don’t even try.

Failing does not make you a failure. In fact, life’s most successful people are often the biggest failures. Failure paves the road to success. Did you watch the MJ commercial yet? He was the greatest because he failed the most. The only difference between him and most of the world is his attitude. Instead of letting past failures hold him back, he used them as fuel to work even harder. That is the right attitude. Failing simply means you are trying and that alone sets you apart from the masses. Most will sit on the sidelines to watch and criticize. Is this the group you want to be associated with? Not me.

Now get out there and give golf everything you have. Every shot provides an opportunity for success and an opportunity for failure. Which will you focus on? And more importantly, what will your attitude towards failure be from this day forward?

See you next time.

Mike Snyder

Twitter: @Mike_Snyder