Life is a game of failure.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a bad thing. In fact, I suggest it’s a necessary thing.
We’ve by now all heard of the concepts of “failing fast,” or “failing forward.” We acknowledge this logically, but emotionally we can struggle with it.
My easiest examples of failure come from playing golf. Maybe it’s because I get so many chances for examples.
I was having problems “shanking” my short irons. Shanking is basically hitting the ball dead sideways to the right. Not good for your score, morale, or confidence.
The rest of my game was improving, yet this was a conundrum resulting in expletives on excrement. The short irons are actually the easier clubs to hit and I was flummoxed as to why I’d occasionally shank a shot as if I’d never played before!
At first – and for some time – I was critical of myself. This was manifested by crappy self-talk and fear of attempting the damn shot with others watching.
I needed to step back and go from critical to curious. Why was it only on these shots? Why was I executing well with the other clubs and not these?
After deciding to learn instead of critique, I discovered that I was standing too close to the golf ball at address. It was affecting my swing path and consequently hitting the ball on the hozzle of the club rather than the face. It wasn’t my swing; it was my feet.
I instituted a simple metric that I learned from the video and VIOLA, zero shanks the next time out.
Here’s what you should take from this story…
We are all prone to be critical of ourselves when we make wrong decisions, perform poorly, or simply suffer failure.
In order to “fail fast,” we must quickly move from critical to curious and learn how to be better.
Easier said than done, right?
My personal trigger is the crappy self-talk. I’m trying to catch myself and then stop, breath, and get back to neutral by being curious.
What’s your trigger?
Identify your trigger and then get to work on your mindset.
By creating metrics in yourself to identify when it’s time to move from critical to curious, then you will unleash your performance in both business and life. And in so doing, cure the “shanks” in your game.
Quote of the Week:
“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.”
~ H.G. Wells
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