Golf Like You Love Yourself*

*Before I get too far, I have to give credit to my dear friend Chara for writing a book called Eat Like You Love Yourself and creating a podcast called Live Like You Love Yourself. This post was inspired by her.

Are golfers not their own worst critics?  

And then try to give a golf lesson to someone who is already defeated internally before the lesson even begins.  I've had several students (more than I can count) agree that golf is 99% mental or emotional and then continue to ask for physical corrections.  If you believe in self-fulfilling prophecies, golf will give you plenty of examples.  And then we go back to searching for more distance, more accuracy and of course, my least favorite word, more consistency. The work that needs to be done here is an inside job and it is some of the most difficult, yet rewarding work we can do.

Our good friend Tim Kremer's Thought of the Day this morning read, "Improvement is not as much about movement forward as letting go of old, limiting beliefs in order to allow the improvement to unfold. It's the internal resistance, not lack of effort, that slows progress down most of the time."

I'll wait while you read that a dozen more times...

Our limiting beliefs, internal resistance, stories we tell ourselves about our inability to perform, our non-present thinking...I could go on...prevent us from realizing the golf of our dreams. And how do I know? I live it EVERY SINGLE DAY.  

I had to pick my daughter up from the Golf Center at Kings Island today. As I drove through the neighborhood surrounding what use to be the original 18, I remembered how I used to feel when I was a junior golfer and my grandpa would take me to watch the Senior Tour play there.  I thought it was really cool that the people who lived in those condos had a first row seat to amazing professional golf.  I could also remember how I thought it would feel to be walking inside those ropes and hand a ball to an aspiring fan. And it kinda brings tears to my eyes because on a couple occasions I have walked inside the ropes and I have handed that ball to an aspiring junior golfer and it was probably more emotionally moving for me than them.

Watching  the Senior Tour at Kings Island and watching the LPGA Tour at Country Club of the North were responsible for creating that burning desire inside my heart to play professional golf.  And every day I work on the inside stuff that has kept my dream an arms-length away.

Is the physical important? Yes, you have to be able to hit the shots you see in your mind's eye, but first you must believe you can hit those shots. You must have the desire to be a bigger version of yourself and that can only be done through inner growth.

To me, inner growth is self-love.  It's giving yourself a chance to be the best version of you and that does not involve the inner critic, the inner judge or the nasty voice in your head that tells you that you are not worthy. You are worthy if you choose to be.

Many Birdies,

Melissa

P.S. Clare caddied for a winner today. My heart is full to know that my kids get IT.