Learning Experiences Suck!
6/19/2010
Tom Lehman has had a long and distinguished career on the PGA Tour, but despite his longevity and victory in the 1996 British Open, he has (only) won five times on tour. The cumulative percentage of his victories per tournament is barely 1 percent. Kenny Perry has won thirteen PGA Tour events in over nineteen years, which accounts for about 2 percent overall. Arnold Palmer won sixty-two tournaments over his nineteen year PGA career for a winning percentage of 8 percent. For comparison, Tiger Wood’s PGA winning percentage is obviously the highest at approximately 27 percent. The lesson here is that we often lose much more than we actually win. Jack Nicklaus once stated “People don’t realize how often you have to come in second in order to finish first.”
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We learn from our negative experiences way more than when we actually play well. Seriously, when we play well, what did we learn that we are great? This belief is perpetuated often at the youth and high-school level when some kids and teams win all the time. Since they are continually winning, they can easily become infected by their success and stop improving as a result. Now, winning is much more fun than losing and it is better to win ugly than to lose looking pretty. But then again, it is far easier to pat oneself on the back after winning than it is to look oneself in the mirror after a loss.
When we play poorly, don’t execute well, or even “choke,” it is no fun at all. However, it is not supposed to be fun, it is intended to hurt, but it is also supposed to teach. Since we are not getting what we want, and the experience is painful, we often complain, make excuses, dismiss it, and fail to examine what we learned.
Experience is the best teacher and we must properly learn from all of our failures. We should even welcome these periods from time to time because it serves as a bench mark. Learning experiences shows us precisely where we stand and what we need to do to improve.
“That which hurts, instructs”-Benjamin Franklin
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Have a Vision
6/18/2010
Walt Disney passed away before Magic Kingdom was built. At the coronation, an individual stated “It’s too bad that he [Walt Disney] didn’t live to see this.” Someone replied, “He saw it before any of us did, that’s why it’s here.”
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One of the most powerful mental skills is imagery, which can be used in a variety of ways. Imagery is most powerful through helping us create a vision. I believe that we have to see and feel what it is that we really want to achieve.
A goal for some is to become a millionaire. So, one imagery activity at workshops is to picture themselves with a million dollars. Rarely do people actually picture themselves lying in a pool of money, instead, we see ourselves doing specific activities. We picture the types of activities we’re doing, who we’re interacting with, and the feeling of being a millionaire. For instance, perhaps we see ourselves donating the money, which makes us feel special and worthy. It is a fun exercise, but the importance is to help create an impetus for our actions.
The best part of imagery is that it is easy to help create our vision. The more often we practice, the clearer our vision becomes. We can all begin creating our vision by answering three common questions:
- What do we want to do
- Who do we want to be with
- Where do we want to be
Each question should be pictured clear and specific as possible. Envision the type of work that makes us feel competent; the types of interactions we are doing, and what a perfect day looks like. The goal is to create a vision with all three combined. For instance, if we envision traveling, playing golf, or attending the zoo with our family as perfect days, then we should aspire to make this vision our reality.
Creating a vision is the first step in moving toward our chosen goal. What separated Ray Kroc from the McDonald brothers was that he had a distinct vision of creating how masses of people could enjoy fast food.
-“Vision without execution is hallucination”-Thomas Edison
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How Good is Great?
6/17/2010
After watching the 3rd perfect game (unofficially) this season, 21st overall, in MLB history by Armando Galarraga, and witnessing Steven Strasburg exceed the highest of expectations, striking out 14 in his MLB debut, it made me ponder how good is great?
Satchel Paige was the oldest pitcher, at age 42, to make his major league debut. His prime was spent in the Negro leagues and the stories about Satchel Paige are omnipotent. He was so great that he once promised to strike out the first nine batters (or the fans got their money back).
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Bryon Nelson, won 5 major championships, and won 11 consecutive tournaments in 1945. His story of greatness also occurred while conducting a swing clinic in 1954 at LA country club. He proceeded to hit every club in his bag and his caddy did not move more than one step in either direction, until he pulled out his driver. He told the crowd “you want to have a little extra left if needed.” His caddy just looked straight over his head as the ball flew directly over. He later said “It was a perfect day of golf.” *
Billy Casper won 51 times on the PGA tour. One day of greatness occurred during the 1963 Cajun Classic in which he hit 16 greens and shot a 63. However, he actually missed 4 putts inside 10 feet and his two chips that day, lipped out.
J.B. Holmes has won twice on the PGA tour, while being one of the games longest drivers. While he played at The University of Kentucky, he finished 1st in every qualifying tournament. *
Phil Parkin, All-American at Texas A & M, once finished 2nd in a collegiate tournament by one shot. The “greatness” aspect was that he finished 2nd playing only with his irons. He wanted to see “just if he could do it.”
Not to be outdone in the quest for greatness, Dean Karnazes once ran 350 miles-non-stop, without sleep. He covered the distance non-stop in 80 hours, 44 minutes, which is equal to running from Indianapolis, IN to Pittsburgh, PA.
*Editor’s note- Thank you to Don Essig III & Coach Mike Fleck for their contributions.
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