The mornings are losing their chill and the afternoon sun has begun to caress your face with the gentle reminder that the long awaited season of golf is just around the corner. The memories of last year and all its glory — the soft fading drives into tree-lined fairways, the magical bunker shots saving par, and the double-breaking putts that somehow found their way into the bottom of the cup – renew your passion to play again. The sweet smell of freshly cut greens lures us back to the course for another year of trials and  triumphs. The spell of the game has, once again, been cast upon us.

“Next up on tee number one, the Weber foursome. Good luck, gentlemen and ladies.”

Each spring we, as players, renew our vow to get our game into the shape that we know it belongs. This is the year we go from good to great. But, where does that quest begin? The range once per week? The floor mat each morning to keep us trim and flexible? The pro shop for a new putter? The magazine rack to brush up on our attitude and mental game?

Your first stop this year must begin in a different place… the mirror.

Take a good, long look. Ask yourself one simple question, “To really improve my game, If I were to do just one thing religiously this year with total commitment and without waver, what would it be?” Before you walk away from your own gaze, answer yourself. Maybe your answer is to practice weekly. Or, maybe your reply is to join the next flight up at your club to better challenge yourself. Or, your response could be to refuse to beat yourself down on the course after a missed putt.

You see, no matter what your answer is, it must be your answer – your truth. For, if there is a singular power the game has over each of us, it is, for sure, the power to expose us to ourselves and ultimately, bring us to our own truth.

S² Tip

Pick one thing – just one thing – that you will do from today until your last putt of the season to become your best… then stick to that commitment as if your game depended upon it.

Success Story

Hats off to the University of Northern Colorado women’s golf team and head coach Brandon White in capturing their first Big Sky Conference title.

In Another’s Words…

“Look well into thyself; there is a source which will always spring up if thou wilt always search there.”

– Marcus Aurelius, philosopher

The most common emotional challenge a golfer must deal with is how to keep from losing his cool following a mishit or a series of poorly played shots.

Much is made of being able to maintain an emotional equilibrium while playing golf.  While emotional outbursts may enhance performance in more aggressive sports, such as football or hockey, becoming emotional while playing golf will almost always result in higher scores.  Maintaining positive and calm emotions during times of crisis is a defined skill of quality players.

The desire to throw a club and begin a self-barrage of insults is very real. The real question is, “How can we effectively deal with anger on the course?”

The perfect golfer does not exist.  Acknowledge, accept, and embrace the fact that you are going to have off shots, off holes, and off rounds.  That is life.  That is golf.  Event the world’s best players are constantly playing out of forests, sand, and roughs.  So, if they make errors, don’t expect perfection each time you head to the course.  Following a mishit, learn to say to yourself, “Whoops.  Reload.”

Realize that becoming angry will only intensify the emotional response.  The catharsis effect – the display of anger will act as a release valve and allow you to get back to calm — is a fallacy.  Sport psychology research has shown that anger usually results in more anger.  And, like a train rolling down a track, your emotions will gain momentum making it impossible to get back under control and will certainly lead to the great train wreck.

Do not abandon your pre-shot routine.  Remember that your pre-shot routine is designed to get you mentally calm and clear for the shot at hand.  Letting anger linger may cause hasty choices resulting in poor shot and club selection and increase the odds of another poor shot.  The past is the past; nothing you can do will change it.  So, leave errors behind you, go through your full routine, take a smooth swing, and trust for the best.

When you become angry and frustrated your muscles will tighten up — causing a tight and stiff swing.  Therefore, it is wise to keep your mind from becoming anger-filled and frustrated so that your body can stay loose and fluid.  A loose and comfortable mind is more likely to translate into a loose and comfortable body.

S² Tip

Realize that anger results in more anger.  So “let it go” and move on to the next shot.

Success Story

The No. 2 Auburn men’s golf team picked up its third win of the season, and eighth under Nick Clinard, after winning the Hootie at Bulls Bay by nine strokes over No. 24 Virginia on Tuesday in Awendaw, S.C. Sophomore Niclas Carlsson won the individual title after carding a 1-under 71 in the third round to finish at 5-under 211. Nice job, Tigers!

In Another’s Words…

“Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.” — Douglas MacArthur, General

Got Salmon?

Michael Riggs, M.Ed.

The morning alarm goes off. The snooze gets hit once, twice, and three times for good luck.

Finally, you drag your tired body from the sack to the shower. Scrub. Yawn. Scrub some more.

Driving to work you endlessly flip from station to station trying to find something that resembles music.

Tense and frustrated from the drive, you arrive at your work space, plop down your satchel of work “stuff” that was brought home with good intentions to complete — if it wasn’t for that deserted island, worm eating, reality TV show that sucked you in.

You’re off to get a hot cup o’ java to jumpstart the day.

After twenty minutes of getting trapped into small talk with coworkers about small stuff, you make it back to your cubicle.  It’s time to get to work… almost.

Sifting through junk mail, junk email, and a variety of other time-killing tasks, you prepare to get to work…almost.

After writing a few late birthday cards, making a few not very important phone calls, and jotting a few not very important notes to yourself it’s time to get to… lunch.

 Following a client lunch date that ran over a few minutes, as you got extremely caught up in discussing tomorrow’s fantasy sports pool draft, you get back to your “work space” and make some headway on the nagging Jones’ file, the never-ending project B14, and the budget’s budget. 

 Phew! What a day.

Exhausted, you grab your keys and shuffle through the parking lot to reverse your teeth-clenching commute to get home and, well, do something.

Unfortunately, this scenario may have some eerily familiar humor to it. Most people are very poor time and life managers. Days, weeks, months, and years get away from them without significant life, work, social, physical, or spiritual progress. The primary reason? They do not know how to manage their time, thus, their lives effectively. Each day is a series of non-sequential, significantly unrelated and random “What should I do now?” questions. In essence, these people create a time vacuum that gets filled with the closest, and usually the easiest, task.

It is human nature to swim downstream and let the current carry you along without expending much mental, emotional, or physical energy. If you give yourself the opportunity to waste time, odds are quite good that you will.

Question: How many people do you know that wake up each day and browse the day’s TO DO list that was created at the end of the previous day and say, “I am going to complete, A, B, and C, first because those are most critical to my success. Then, I will move onto D, E, and F as they are clearly the launching pad for G, H, and I, etc.?”

Answer: Successful and satisfied (S²) people, that’s who.

If your life is not evolving in the direction or at the pace you imagined it would, the first thing you should examine is your effective and efficient use of your time. Individuals that prioritize their activities based upon the answer to this question, “The completion of what tasks will have the most significant impact on my overall success?” are the ones that slowly pull ahead of their competition and actively develop the life of their dreams.

So, what should you do?

For the next 14 days, write down what you will complete tomorrow, the night before. Yes, the night before.  Make sure the first items on your list are the most critical to your success. Get focused and stay focused on the most important things. If you want to get your car washed or send a Get Well card to an ailing friend set time aside after you have completed critical tasks. If you do this simple activity for 14 days you will be very pleased with the amount of important “stuff” you get done, and the positive momentum you’ll have created for yourself.

Now, back to human nature. Learning to swim upstream, in other words, tackling the important stuff first, can be learned.  It will take time and significant effort, though. But the reward is most certainly worth the effort. After all, the grizzly bear certainly looks blissful munching on his hard-fought-for salmon, doesn’t he?

S² Tip

For the next 14 days, write down what you will complete tomorrow, the night before. Make sure the first items on your list are the most critical to your overall success.

Success Story

Successful Entrepreneurs Fred Smith (Fedex), Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com) and Martha Stewart are prime examples of efficiency, purpose and the will to “get it done”. Read more…

 In Another’s  Words…

“The real measure of success is the number of experiments that can be crowded into twenty four hours.”

– Thomas Edison, inventor

Tell me if this sounds familiar…

The round is over and you are driving home unconsciously replaying the missed five foot putt for birdie, or the duck hook that found the center of the pond, or the simple chip shot that carried all but eight inches, or…  and, with each painful replay you find yourself shaking your head back and forth, ever so gently, wondering what went wrong.

The truth, first and foremost, is that your concept of the game is wrong.

You believe that golf is a game of hitting perfect drives, chips, and making perfect putts. You believe that deep down inside you is a scratch player that effortlessly moves his ball from point A to point B to point C and gently rolls it into a hole cut in the grass at point D. You believe that you should complete this simple sequence eighteen times with each round followed by a predictable totaling of your card – followed with a cheeky grin.

There is a more fundamental truth, however, that you must grasp if you are to move toward a greater sense of satisfaction within the game and greater success (S²) on the course.

Golf is a game of mistake management. If you look at the best players in the world, from this era and last, including ladies, men, and seniors, you will find that the game is actually a series of off target shots followed by attempts of recovery followed by more off target shots. Sure, an occasional perfect shot magically appears where the ball does exactly what it is supposed to do and lands exactly where it was instructed to go, but the vast majority of golf swings result in error.

Once a player earnestly adopts this simple philosophy, the game changes and the player begins his transformation. His emphasis shifts from destination to route, and from perfection to excellence. He accepts fallibility and embraces the opportunity to play the game.

Now, the ultimate question emerges — How are you going to handle your mistakes? Will you blame and  accuse? Will you become angry and frustrated? Will you quit and desert? Or, will you take the correct road and recognize each shot for what it is and give it another try?

Make no mistake – golf is a game of mistakes.

S² Tip

Consider each shot as an opportunity to prove your ability to recover – a chance to stay calm and focused on making the next shot a perfect one.

Success Story

Congratulations to Celine Boutier of Montrouge, France on her commitment to play for Duke University in the fall of 2012! Celine is currently ranked #6 in the US and plays to a plus 3 handicap.

In Another’s Words…

“Constant effort and frequent mistakes are the stepping stones to genius.”

– Elbert Hubbard, American writer

Michael Riggs, M.Ed.

What do apples, the earth, atoms and Abraham Lincoln have in common?

Each has an axis that all of its activities revolve around. Each has a clearly defined center point that acts as a fulcrum from which its power and energy move out from. Each has a core from which, and to which, it can trace its sustenance.

The apple’s core maintains and houses its source of regeneration; its seeds. The earth’s core is the oven and recycling center of all the matter that we build, walk, drive, climb, and live upon. The atom’s core, its nucleus, is the great-sticky-balancer that sustains its electrons as they hurl and swirl in patterns of perfect equilibrium. Mr. Lincoln’s core was his formidable character and unwavering commitment to developing a society that realized freedom for all people – regardless of color. Materially speaking, a core is the point of emanation of a beginning. For people, it is the foundation of all of their thought and action. It is what makes us what we are.

When you consider your professional life, what do you see as your core? What are the core beliefs that direct, motivate, and cause you to think and act in the ways you do? Are your core beliefs ones that help guide you to use your gifts and talents to make your company, family, community, and world a better place? Or, do your core values direct you to be self-seeking and protective?

Core beliefs are not reserved for the rich, influential, and fortunate. Regardless of state or stature, we all possess core beliefs. Core beliefs come in many shapes, colors, and sizes. Samples of core beliefs may include:

-       “all life should be respected,”

-       “you get what you deserve,”

-       “money makes the world go ‘round,”

-       “materialism is good,”

-       “equality is attainable,”

-       “perfection is impossible to achieve,” and

-       “winning is all that matters.”

Your core beliefs are what make you tick.  And, they direct, often in a very “back scenes” way, all of your thoughts and behaviors as a professional. In essence, your core beliefs are the operating system that makes you function the way that you do.

So, what does this have to do with improving the success and satisfaction you are experiencing in your professional life?

Simply put, if you don’t like what is happening in your professional life, it may be time for you to unearth your core beliefs and discover which ones are productive and which ones should be sent to the scrap heap. Choose a handful of core beliefs that you want to govern your career and be sure that all of your thoughts and actions are in accord with those beliefs.

Develop yourself into a professional that you are proud of…starting from the core.

 S² Tip

Discover your professional core beliefs and let them drive and direct your career. It may not be easy, but it will be very satisfying.

Success Story

Chris Gardner’s journey from homeless dad to millionaire stockbroker was the basis for his autobiography, Pusruit of Happyness, and the hit 2006 film of the same name starring Will Smith. Nice job saying “No” to failure and despair and doing something about it!

 In Another’s  Words…

 “Happiness is only a byproduct of successful living.”  – Austen Riggs, psychiatrist

You will never be able to play golf better than you actually see yourself playing.

The concept of self-image simply applies to the way that you see yourself as a golfer. If your image of yourself is that of a great player with a smooth swing, soft touch around the greens, and wielding a deadly putter, well, be confident that you are headed toward that reality. While it may not mean that you will be a scratch player any time soon, or even claiming a single-digit handicap, but it does mean that you have placed the correct image of being a quality player in your own mind — giving yourself a chance at becoming that image.

On the other hand, if you see yourself as a hack that can’t hit a fairway to save his life, a poor wedge player, or a choke unable to make a pressure-filled putt, you’re right. The mind works in a painfully funny way.

Your mind will not allow you to be, on a consistent basis, anything more than you suggest to it. The best players see themselves as great players, first.  Not the other way around. From early on, the best players at all levels have dreamt and imagined playing golf at a very high level. They see themselves making key putts and hitting stiff wedges time and time again. They see themselves staying cool and calm under pressure while their opponents melt down. They see themselves wearing green jackets and hoisting golden trophies. They see themselves as winners. As a result, each of the small steps required to become their best were attacked with energy, enthusiasm and confidence – knowing that each was a vital ingredient for a perfect pie.

Do your best to regularly see yourself hitting great shots in big matches against your key rivals. Make the most of the opportunity to see yourself as a quality player.  See it first. Be it second.

S² Tip

Never swing the club until you have seen yourself successfully hitting the shot at hand.

Success Story

Senior Wyndham Clark of Valor Christian HS in Highlands Ranch Colorado proceeded to rip up the course at the 2011 state championship with a casual 64,64 (16 under par) with no bogeys or worse. WOW! Wyndham is off to Oklahoma State University to play for the Cowboys next fall.

 In Another’s Words…

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first seeking to win.”

– Sun-Tzu, military strategist

Just Right

 by Michael Riggs, M.Ed.

The relationship between a player’s optimal level of arousal – how revved he is – and performance is one of the most studied, and difficult to pinpoint, concepts in the field of Sport Psychology. Each golfer has an optimal state of mental stimulation that allows him to think and feel “ready” to play.  If the golfer is under-aroused, less than peak performance may be the result. Conversely, over-arousal can lead to a sense of panic and feeling “out of control.”

As is true with all aspects of the mental game, learning to recognize different states of being is the first, and thus, a critical step. It is important to become aware of how “keyed up,” “ready,” or “mellow” you tend to be when you are playing your best golf. Each player has a different level of optimal arousal; therefore, each player needs to be self-aware what that level is in order to “go” there to play his best.

With golf, a lower level of arousal is usually best for extraordinary performance. Because playing great golf requires fluidity, excellent timing, and the ability to make clear and decisive decisions on the course, being mentally tense will usually decrease the player’s ability to reach proper physical, mental and emotional states. For example, on a scale of one through ten, if being asleep is represented with a one, and being in a state of fury were a ten, the proper mental arousal level for great golf would be between a three and a five.

Most players do not know their optimal level of arousal. Consequently, they end up playing better when they “happen” to be properly aroused, and score high when “they aren’t ready to play.” Experiment and become aware of your optimal level of arousal. Your intuition will usually tell you when you are near your perfect level. While feeling butterflies in your stomach and increased respiration are natural for athletes prior to competition, feeling like you are going to throw up and your heart pounding out of your chest are sure signs of over-arousal. On the other hand, a lackadaisical “I don’t care” attitude is almost always a sign of under-arousal.

The ultimate goal is to be able to “dial up” or “dial down” to reach your perfect level each time you play.

S² Tip

Train yourself  – with the guidance of a mental fitness expert – to be able to “dial up” or “dial down” to reach your perfect mental and emotional level each time you play.

Success Story

Hat’s off to Mark Haddad, new Executive Director of the PGA Tour Academy’s, for his creative efforts putting together some truly extraordinary camps and schools for Jr. golfers!

 In Another’s Words…

“Pressure is playing for ten dollars when you don’t have a dime in your pocket.” – Lee Trevino

What an exciting time for coaches… the beginning of a new season! The stage is set for fresh new ideas that will invigorate the staff and players. The opportunity to create exciting and challenging strategies is knocking down the door. The time is perfect for getting on the leading edge of technologies that will improve your team’s performance. There’s just one big problem, though.

Each year most coaches simply recycle what they did last year. The same planning book is opened, tweaked a bit, printed and handed out to the staff for the day’s practice. Very little forethought goes into what is innovative in the realm of strategies or programs that could move their team from good to great. The habits and ruts of most coaches are grooved so deep they no longer even recognize that they are just the same old coach that they were last year and last decade.

What holds most coaches back from becoming extraordinary?

Most coaches are creatures of habit. What they’ve always done is what they will always do. In many cases coaches aren’t doing what they ask their players to do, “Push yourself and stretch to become your very best.” While the execution of habits are very necessary to producing and maintaining high levels of performance, if those same habits are out-dated and produce mediocrity they need to be scrapped. The best question a coach can ask himself is, “Are the ways I’ve been doing things producing extraordinary results?” If the answer is ‘no’, then the solution is crystal clear – create some new habits that will produce extraordinary results.

Most coaches are afraid to be creative in fear of being interpreted by colleagues as ‘different’. Coaching can be a ‘fit-in’ profession. The best coaches attract the most attention – because they consistently win championships – yet, the coaching profession is knee-knockingly afraid of attracting attention to ones’ self. Not making sense, here? In order to become a great coach you need to begin to care less about what others – colleagues, media, parents – think of you. Find your own extraordinary ways and forge ahead with them. Someday, if you do, you may be invited to speak about creativity, innovation and success at the annual coach’s conference.

Most coaches are too focused on what they are doing and don’t make the time to conduct employee satisfaction surveys. Whether paid or not, your players are your employees. Employees must be kept happy or you’ll have mutiny. Every truly extraordinary coach makes the time get out of his bubble and tune-in to whether his players are truly motivated and excited about his ways and means and the direction the program is headed. If the players are bored and are ‘going through the motions’ you can bet your whistle they won’t be producing to the level they are capable.

So, coach, do you really want to have an extraordinary season this year? Focus on three things:

• break loose of old habits that aren’t producing extraordinary results
• get creative and begin to care less what others will say about you and your program
• keep your players engaged, excited and involved

S² Tip

Break yourself of the habits that don’t produce extraordinary results. Now!

Success Story

University of Northern Colorado women’s basketball head coach, Jaime White, isn’t afraid to get creative with her coaching tactics – and her team responded. Now, the stage is set for a great 2011-2012 season… nice job, Jaime!

In Another’s Words…

“I try to see each new season as a new challenge because I have a new team to work with, new opponents to encounter, and often new ideas and theories to try.”

- Mike Krzvzewski

Networking Works

by Alexandra Eidenberg

As a business owner I do a lot of networking to grow my business, and as Managing Director of eWomenNetwork I host even more networking events to help others grow their business.  I am constantly looking for the next best event to attend.

Today I went to a lunch event at the Union League Club in downtown Chicago.  Wow, what a scenario!  Ever walk into a room and wonder if you missed a pertinent memo about something. Well today was that day.  I walk in the room in my normal business garb, which tends to include either a cute dress at an appropriate length or a pants cardigan outfit combo.  Today I wore a really fantastic black and white pair of plaid pants with a purple dress shirt (got to sport my business color), and my favorite black cardigan.   So I walk in and everyone including the other two women in the room are in suits that are seemingly from Astor & Black or that other place Tom James.  (If these suit makers do not ring a bell, no worries, keep networking, they are aggressive sales people and you will meet them like it or not.)

I tend not to surround myself with people that wear suits that are more expensive then my car.  (By the way I drive a 2008 Nissan Maxima.)  So there I am in my fantastic pants, purple dress shirt and fav cardigan looking all casual about it, and standing out like the sorest thumb that ever existed.  They always say do something unique to stand out so when you are networking people remember you.  Check, I did that. Uber unique and memorable!!

My favorite part about most networking events are the food and listening to other peoples pitches. I happen to be a vegetarian, which for some reason equates to “she only eats lettuce” for most venues. I eat a lot of salads at these events, because all the sandwiches are piled high with roast beef and turkey, the soup always has chicken stock in it, and most of the available salads also have some kind of meat in them.  I am always stuck eating 2 desserts and a plate of random wilting lettuce.  Mind you I will take 2 desserts over any meal any day of the week, but it’s more on the principle that we vegetarians need sustenance too!

The Union League did their networking where everyone gets 2 minutes to speak and there were about 25 people (50 minutes of listening to others lay it on us).  Let the pitches begin; there were 9 Financial Planners, several CPAs, the lady that would not stop talking (what did she do again), 6 just laid-off people, some guy who specializes in putting gold onto roses and me!  There I am in all my non-suit glory belting out my tag line “It takes team work to make the dream work”.

As part of my role as a managing director with eWomenNetwork I work with people on their pitch, help them strategically network at events and encourage giving to create getting in return.  There is nothing better than giving someone a lead to kindly persuade them to give you one back.  Today, my inner monologue went bonkies listening to people give their pitch, because all the rules I have ever known to stand true in networking did not happen.

Key Networking Rules

(For networking at locations with and without suits included.)

-       Be unique! (say something not about your business that makes you human and likeable)

-       Create an edge. (if everyone is a financial planner, what do you do differently?)

-       Smile : ) (deodorant and perfume/cologne go a long way too, suits aren’t everything)

-       Help people help you. Explain your target market/client and who can help connect you to those clients. The most important part is WHO can help you connect to your target market.

-       Stop shopping for your client and start shopping for someone that knows lots of your type of client. 1 person with 10 connections is better than 1 random new client.

-       At the end of your pitch restate your name and tag line.

S² Tip

When networking, stop shopping for your client and start shopping for someone that knows lots of your type of client.

Success Story

Jeff Archer, co-founders and owner of YOLO Board, has capitalized on people’s general lack of coordination and desire to have fun to paddle his way to success. ONE Way to go, Jeff!

 In Another’s  Words…

“My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.”

– Indira Gandhi, Indian prime minister

Copy Cat

by Michael Riggs

Most, if not all, of what you need to reach your playing potential has already been created, marketed, and is readily available to you. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel… just get it rolling along.

Great players know how to make the best use of their time and resources. Players on the fast track to reaching their potential become masters at using other people’s ideas and techniques and simply incorporating them into their games. As a matter of pure time availability, it would be impossible to personally experiment and figure out everything you need to know about proper equipment, effective diet and nutrition, course management, and swing mechanics. Great players are great copy cats.

With the sheer volume of excellent print material and the information available on the Web bringing instant access to amazing amounts of great ideas, most of what you need to become is at your fingertips.

Are you looking for proper swing technique or a fix for your frustrating slice?

It’s all available to you to read and see how others – the best in the world – are doing it. Unless you have unlimited free time to go to the range and try, retry, and retry again to fix your swing, you need to learn to find answers by simply copying what others are doing.

Do you become sluggish and lacking energy to get you through the round, or are you wondering how to manage your mental game on dangerous par 3’s?

Acquire the information you need and simply overlay what others have researched and proven to be effective and copy it!  Copying a proven technique isn’t cheating… it’s smart.

One of the most amazing technologies to swift, easy, and effective change is the use of video for swing analysis and improvement.  Now, your swing coach can show you what a professional player is doing – so you can copy it. If a PGA or LPGA player has developed a swing that they use and trust to pay their bills, then why not use it too?

While it is honorable to want to “pave your own road”, too often a player’s pride gets in the way of rapid improvement. Some players will refuse to copy a successful technique, only to spend countless hours trying to “do it their own way.” Are these players courageous and pioneering? Or, are they silly and overly prideful?

S² Tip

To quicken your improvement become a great copy cat and use the knowledge, sweat, and strain of those before you.

Success Story

Congrats to Auburn’s Dan Stringfellow on his 3^rd place finish in the 2011 Illinois Amateur Championship. ONE Way to go!

 In Another’s Words…

“A golfer’s diet: live on greens as much as possible” – Chi Chi Rodriquez