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Belief and Unwavering Confidence
“I wonder who is going to finish second.” Tommy Bolt, after birdieing the first hole in the first round on route to his 1958 U.S. Open victory
One of the reasons that Tiger can pull off a US Open victory after a two month layoff and still hobbling is his supreme belief in himself and ability to shut out everything else. The reason that I bring this up is two fold. One, Tiger did it again and showed how the power of belief can overcome most obstacles. Two, one of my clients is struggling with his belief system, it’s grossly affecting his ability to play to his potential and I had a conversation with him yesterday on how to correct it.
First let me say that our belief systems are a result of our subconscious programming. Everything that we have seen, heard or read and have come to accept or learned through experience shapes our subconscious program and hence, belief system. There are only a few viable ways to change that subconscious program if it is negative and causes negative reactions in you. By the way, 85% of our behavior is controlled by our subconscious program.
You have to replace those negative thoughts or memories with more positive ones through direct experience, positive visualizations or affirmations or hypnosis.
Positive experiences can be more difficult to create. Positive visualizations, affirmations and hypnosis are easy and nearly as effective because the subconscious mind does not know the difference between what is real and what is imagined or it is told.
If you struggle with belief in your ability to execute a golf shot or ability to score at a certain level, it will nearly always create question, doubt or a negative image flash at some time when you are over the ball and consequently produce body tension, a change in your mechanics, an errant swing and poor shot. To combat this, you have to reprogram the subconscious mind through the techniques that I just mentioned so question and doubt never occur.
Start generating a list of the best sots that you have hit with every club in your bag and continue to build on this list. Make time several times a week to visualize those shots. See them, hear them, feel them coming off the clubface, and most importantly, feel the emotion that you experience afterwards. Truly engage in this process. Construct a list of affirmations for yourself that target the areas that you have low confidence in. For example, “I am a great putter,” “I can break 90, 80, or 70,” and “I remain calm, relaxed and focused when competing.”
Write out your list several times a week and then speak them out load to yourself as you look yourself in the eyes in front of a mirror. Say the statements three times with more and more conviction each time. Say them with confidence, pride and belief.
As far as hypnosis or self-hypnosis is concerned, that goes way beyond the scope of this short article. Understand, however, that there is nothing mystical about hypnosis. It’s nothing more than creating a state of relaxation and heightened suggestibility followed by positive visualizations and statements. For more on that, there are several good resources out there.
I’ll leave you with another great applicable quote from a very successful individual. “If you think you can, you will. If you think you can’t, you won’t.” Henry Ford
©2008 Achievement Solutions
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