A keen golfer wrote to me with the following questions:
• Have you some thoughts on how to be positive in golf?
• What should I be thinking when I stand the ball ready to swing?

Set your goals
These seemingly simple questions raise a large number of issues related to the psychology of success. Whether in business or sport the principles of success remain the same.

So, what is the solution? First and foremost, in any undertaking you need to have a clear objective. Ask yourself, what do you want to achieve? It might be a speech free of umms and errs, a pay rise or a hole in one. In all cases the processes required are identical.

Rehearse

Before you pick up the golf club allow yourself time for mental rehearsal. This is a process whereby you visual yourself making the perfect shot (or speech or salary review discussion). You allow yourself to see and feel every little detail from the perfect swing to the flight of the ball and the gentle roll into the hole. This may sound corny but it is well supported by fact.

In Strategies of the Champions, Vicki Peterson outlines an experiment where NBA basketball players were split into three groups. The goal shooting accuracy of each group was tested. The players were then instructed to rest, to continue practising their shooting on the court or to mentally rehearse their shooting. The results? Those who rehearsed mentally, improved just as much as those that rehearsed in real life. The third group (that didn’t practice at all) showed no improvement.

This is only one of many stunning accounts of people who have used mental rehearsal to master skills and is an essential foundation step to making progress.

Focus and concentrate

The next step is to focus 100% on the current shot. Forget about the shot you bumbled on the previous hole, or the one you have to make on the next hole. Focusing all your attention on the current moment will remove distractions from your mind allowing you to give your best.

The difference between those who succeed and those who do not is mental resilience. If you give up when things go wrong or if you can’t tough it out when the going gets tough you will miss the shot for sure. Tell yourself you can do it. Positive statements and belief in your ability to make things happen can only help. But here comes the tricky part. Most people fall apart at the first sign of pressure. Have you ever watched game show contestants miss easy questions? You probably thought they weren’t too bright, but there is another explanation. When caught in the bright lights with the knowledge that a million or more people are watching them, many people freeze.

The same happens in everyday life. Your heart beats fast, your palms feel sweaty and you have butterflies in your stomach. Success comes when you feel those symptoms and perform despite your nerves. When you know that making the shot is the difference between winning $100,000 and $20,000 but can still focus and perform, you have the key to success.