A golfer told me the other day that his problem was that as soon as he hits one bad shot he finds that he just can't stop thinking about it. It then ruins his entire round. There are a lot of golfers who will identify with this feeling and share a similar reaction. I can't help wondering why ... Views: 941
We are frequently cautioned that we just cannot have it all. We are taught that wanting to have our cake and eat it as well is a recipe for great disappointment. When one hears such cautionary phrases and sayings often enough the tendency is to lower ones expectations and to dare not to dream ... Views: 926
Some people thrive upon adrenalin, whilst others do not. Some people love the hustle and bustle of city living and find that to be calming to their temperament. Others find the busy streets anything but calming to their soul. One person can relax and unwind in an open countryside, whilst ... Views: 1302
Life presents us with many choices. Sometimes we feel that we have taken a wrong turn and chosen the wrong road. When we look back we can see that there were signposts visible at that junction, although at the time we didn't pay them sufficient heed. Many things are easier with the benefit of ... Views: 1276
How many times have you seen someone hit a shot in the wrong direction only to realize afterwards that they had in fact been aiming right where the ball went? You might also have noticed that a golfers weight distribution at set up bears a significant impact upon the shot that they subsequently ... Views: 955
Many people never succeed in this seemingly simple task. Our minds misdirect us. We frequently think we know what we want only to discover that upon achieving or receiving it that we are still not as happy as we would wish to be. At other times we know what we would like but are too afraid to ... Views: 3655
As we age it is undeniable that our bodies do not function as smoothly nor as efficiently as they used to when we were younger. As my doctor once said to me "a woman's body is like a car. Once it begins to break down it keeps on breaking down". I’m sure that if his patient had been a man he ... Views: 805
Dreams are wonderful things to have and to hold onto. Dreaming is the first step towards success and fulfillment. Without a dream you can find yourself floating your way through life like a boat without a rudder.
As children we dream. We listen to fairytales and imagine that we are the ... Views: 860
I had a round of golf with a couple of girls the other day and ended up coming off the course chuckling to myself over our focus upon the optimal hip turn and weight transference through the swing. All three of us had individually been paying extra attention to this important part of the golf ... Views: 983
I don't mean to sound sexist here. Rather, I'm talking about facts. I have always noticed that female golfers have more trouble with self-belief in terms of trusting their alignment or their reads of the putting green. Women golfers also seem to suffer more from tournament pressure.
I ... Views: 1079
Our emotions frequently drive our actions in a direction that is opposed to that which our conscious mind wishes. We will often describe such a situation as being in two minds. The impact of our emotional attachment to things can easily be seen in circumstances when we know what we should do ... Views: 915
In life it is easy to get this the wrong way around and remember all too easily the things that do not matter whilst overlooking the things that do really matter. We tend to tie ourselves up in knots when thinking about silly little things instead of focusing upon things that have far greater ... Views: 1163
There are few people, male or female, who do not hope to find the kind of love that transforms us. We instinctively seek a deep bond with another person, one that raises us up, irons out wrinkles, supports and nurtures us, helping us to have courage and remain upbeat no matter what ... Views: 878
Do you sometimes feel that your goals are a little too conservative? Or maybe you consistently find that you have overestimated your potential and set the bar just a bit too high?
If you find that you consistently set your goals either too high or too low then this would indicate that you ... Views: 1027
Opportunities happen for those who seek them out whilst opportunities are most often missed by those who do not look. If you are the sort of person who listens to an inner voice that tells you that nothing ever comes your way then beware, because you are stopping yourself from becoming ... Views: 937
How many times have you found yourself thinking one thing and yet feeling or doing something quite different? When you plan to do something and then don not get around to doing it most people tend to account for this on the assumption that they are simply weak willed.
Few people would ever ... Views: 914
Many of us look in the mirror and expect to see ourselves looking as we looked twenty some years ago. We still feel young and expect to look the same way to. Most people will agree that as you age you almost always find it hard to believe that you really are the age that you are!
Looking ... Views: 816
When it comes to bad habits or indeed addictions, most people know that they would like to change. Its easy to know what you want to do or how you want to be and to make a decision to change, but it's not so easy to act upon that decision.
Why so? Because this type of decision is one that ... Views: 889
When you think about Jack, Seve, Tiger, or to that matter any great golfer, you find the word creativity popping into your head. These golfers are (or alas, in the case of Seve, were) creative. Great golfers have the ability to think up amazing shots. They can see shots in their mind and then ... Views: 1020
Some people are addicted to excitement, fun or mischief. When I say mischief I mean a little more than regular excitement or good old fun.
A person who is addicted to fun is always looking for a laugh. Mischief in the sense I have in mind here should also be distinguished from a pure ... Views: 1268
Sometimes you will be in a place that is very obviously beautiful to the majority of people. At other times you will not be in such a fortunate place that has overtly physical beauty. But it is possible to find beauty in everything, depending upon ones mindset.
What is beautiful to one ... Views: 875
How often have you found your game deteriorating after you hit that first bad shot? You were out there, hitting balls nice and sweetly, holing out well, mentally calculating your score and feeling pretty good. Then, out pops that stray shot, seemingly from nowhere, and it triggers a downward ... Views: 1306
Laughter is an antidote to pain and unhappiness. The power of laughter should never be underestimated. Laughter clinics have been set up in various places and research has shown that laughter is even an aid to recovery from ill health.
When something makes you laugh, your spirits are ... Views: 949
Recent research carried out by the Universities of Michigan and Columbia has discovered that the areas of the brain that respond to physical pain actually overlap with those responding to relationship break-ups. Thus this type of emotional pain would appear to trigger a similar form of pain ... Views: 901
Putting with confidence tends to be a transient commodity in the life of a golfer. You go out one day and your putting just feels right, you see the line almost as if somebody has painted it on the green for you and you just know instinctively how to stroke the putt so as to achieve the perfect ... Views: 1008
Do you really notice what is happening as it is happening? Do you focus your attention upon what is happening at the current moment or is your attention turned towards the past or the future?
Do you aspire to savor each moment as it passes and embrace all that life has to offer or do you ... Views: 792
There is much evidence that we survive more easily and more comfortably when sharing our lives with other human beings than when we live life in a solitary manner. Research shows that we live longer and healthier lives when time is passed in the company of a loving spouse.
Being alone does ... Views: 952
It might seem that the answer to this question should be rather obvious. Surely you see yourself when you look in the mirror? But this is not strictly true. What you see depends upon how you look at yourself and what you look for in yourself. It depends upon how you view your world.
Some ... Views: 862
When you reach a state whereby you feel that you have absolutely nothing to lose you are in that moment empowered. It is ironic that you only reach this state of freedom and empowerment once you think that you have lost that which you previously thought mattered to you.
As you feel your ... Views: 1080
Wouldn't it be nice if you could get your mind to do exactly what you would like it to do? For the majority of people, to have absolute and complete focus upon your goals at the drop of a hat is recognized as a pretty useful asset. Most of us know how we would like to think about things and ... Views: 1045
Your life really is in your own hands. Life is a blank slate that you can do many different things with. Opportunities come and go and you choose to take them or leave them. How you respond and react to circumstances is almost entirely up to you.
I was chatting with a few Octogenarians ... Views: 852
You can spend hours and hours working away on the range, but what matters is how you play when you are on the course. We all know this and bemoan this undeniable fact of the world of golf. Any keen golfer knows the difference between range play and golf play.
The keener you are the more you ... Views: 947
We repeatedly hear that your imagination paves the way to your reality. This is a pretty well known fact. But this fact can also be a source of frustration to those who just do not have a very good imagination. They want to imagine great things happening in their lives, but simply cannot ... Views: 1148
Is it actually possible to love too much? If we consider for a moment love and hate as being opposite emotions, we do all no doubt agree that it is easily possible to hate too much. Hate in any degree is a dangerous and destructive emotion. Hating at all therefore constitutes hating too ... Views: 924
When you shut down one sense the others are provided with more focus and attention and they will thereby be enhanced. In language you will often hear phrases used with promote one sense or another.
A beautiful painting might invoke in you a whole range of sound as well as visual ... Views: 1253
There are always many moments of an Open golf tournament that you look back upon and smile about. Tom Watson, as he always does, made a load of people smile during the four days of the British Open 2011 at Royal St Georges.
The British weather was as inclement as it could be, and pretty ... Views: 868
There are some things in life, which we would like to happen, but which we at the same time feel uncertain about. The majority of us like to know, and to be assured, about important things, but it would seem that part of our learning curve in this life is to discover ways in which to deal with ... Views: 884
There are a lot of myths about hypnosis, many of which instill great and unnecessary fear in one who could otherwise benefit greatly from its therapeutic potential. These fallacies range from a fear of being left in a hypnotic trance for days on end, to thinking that only those who are weak ... Views: 782
When you spend your time in different places you tend to become very aware of their different cultures. Having just returned to England from America I was once again hit by the amount of swearing that goes on. Swear words are used more frequently than punctuation is any given sentence, it ... Views: 1630
A lot of people complain that the spark has disappeared from their relationship, that they have become just an "old married couple". But, if you wish to keep that sense of romance and excitement in your relationship it's up to you to ensure that these feelings stick around.
The romance ... Views: 796
Whether its making love or just a simple hug a human touch has a very soothing effect on the psyche. In fact, for touch to be comforting it does not even always have to be human.
Stroking a dog or cat can have a very calming and comfortable effect as well. Even stroking a soft furry ... Views: 1037
Listening to the television commentary about the first round of Masters 2011, I picked up on an observation regarding Rory McIlroy. The point made was that he was expected to do well, especially so as he was "not caught up in mechanics".
McIlroy has an easy and effortless looking swing ... Views: 843
In the movie Bride Wars one sees Kate Hudson playing the part of a fiancée to be preempting a romantic proposal. She discovers the ring and runs to her boyfriend brimming with excitement. Fortunately, he knows her well and still manages to turn the situation into one of romance, albeit not in ... Views: 770
Everyone hates being ripped off. But what happens when it is your own mind which is causing you to be short changed? This is in fact the biggest cause (by far) of people being totally and utterly ripped off. Despite this, it is ironically the one form of rip off which most people do not allow ... Views: 942
Everybody procrastinates from time to time, more so when you either don't want to do something or if you don't know how to set about doing it. But we do also know that procrastination predetermines failure and so it is extremely important to make a serious effort to overcome ... Views: 2011
Everyone should have at least one fur blanket in his or her home. Have you noticed how these lovely soft and nicely colored accessories have seemingly appeared in every home store over recent years?
And if you spend a little time being "a fly on the wall" in these stores you'll see that ... Views: 1254
Getting drunk intentionally seems to be a very English thing. The culture for many seems to center around the belief that how drunk you get is an indicator of how good a time you have had. For some, the measure of a good time revolves around how many text messages you have sent which ... Views: 917
Have you ever had the thought that you have lost your swing? This thought is not conducive to feeling confident about your game and we all know that good golf requires confidence by the truck load. It's a bit of a chicken and egg thing. You might say that when your swing is right you then have ... Views: 923
Imagination is where creativity springs from. Imagination is what expands our horizons and turns what was previously impossible into a possibility.
Scientists require factual evidence; they seek physical and actual proof before they believe something to be true, BUT they employ their ... Views: 1001
Everyone has an element of the "Doubting Thomas" within their personality. For some people this doubting and fearful part of their character has a high profile and filters everything through these potentially negative lenses. Others suppress this part of their focus and virtually turn a blind ... Views: 1068