“I suppose we end up where we think we belong a lot of the times. It’s amazing what the subconscious does. Whatever’s deep down inside us and we believe that’s our status, that’s where we end up.” – Padraig Harrington, 3-time Major winner
This month’s post can be summarized in one statement: You’ll never outperform your self-image.
In other words, we all have a subconscious or conscious image of what kind of athlete we are, and we will usually end up performing very close to that level. Of course there will be those times when we catch fire or just stink up the joint, but even then we will “even ourselves out” and return to the level we feel we belong.
So this points to the profound impact our self-image has on our performance, which begs the question – What can we do to improve our self-image? I’ll offer up three ways:
Read morewhat if greatness is more about how you lose than how you win?
"It's frustrating not to execute, but at the same time I like having that weakness exposed because it gives me direction in what I need to work on." – Jordan Spieth
If you are going to set and pursue lofty goals, you are going to be faced with plenty of losses along the way. And where better to look for guidance on how to deal with failure than those who have achieved greatness? You can learn everything you need to know about winning from listening to the great ones talk about losing.
Read moreSeeds for giant timber bamboo are planted deep in the soil. After one year of watering, the bamboo has grown…not at all. After two, and even three years, the bamboo has still yet to break through the soil.
But sometime in the fourth year, after many months of faithful watering, the bamboo shoots up and can grow up to 90 feet in 60 days!
How many things in sport (and in life) are just like this? We invest our time, our energy, our effort – only to be left wondering if it was all worth it. What we so often fail to understand is that meaningful success comes from hard work applied long before results are seen.
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