It’s Masters Week.
For avid golfers like me, this is the ultimate week in sports. I love every part of it, including listening to the pundits and journalists analyze what they think might happen Thursday through Sunday.
This morning, I was listened to the 5 Clubs Podcast hosted by Gary Williams. His regular guest is golf journalist, and former college golfer Gabby Herzig from The Athletic. Gabby just finished a story that drops on Wednesday where she talks to numerous sports psychiatrists regarding the whole concept of “scar tissue” and what it does to our brains.
This is relevant at The Masters. Augusta National has ghosts out there for many players; those places where disasters struck and green jackets were lost. Because they come back every year to face those ghosts face to face again, the concept of “prevention” and our brains becomes real.
What Gabby found in her conversations with these noted experts is that our brains were built to protect us. In cases where we’ve been “hurt,” both physically and mentally, the brain is set up to prevent that from happening again. The brain subconsciously knows that the scar tissue is there and moves to “prevention” mode.
That’s a problem for competitors. Competitors on the golf course at Augusta, in the corporate board rooms, in the offices of small business, and in our chase for being unleashed, are all in “pursuit” mode. We are, or should be, pursuing goals and dreams. When our brain hits prevention mode-usually without us knowing it-that can turn into defeat. In sports, it might be called choking under pressure. In business and life, not reaching our potential.
This one is tough to overcome. I’m not a psychologist or an expert in how the brain works. All I can suggest is that we know it exists and resilience is the key to overcoming reverting to “prevention mode” when we should be in hot pursuit of our life goals and dreams.
Can you think of a time in your life when your brain may have switched into prevent out of fear of scar tissue? How did you deal with it. Maybe you’re dealing with it now.
Resilience sounds easy, but it’s not. At The Masters this week, the best golfers in the world will get tested again, and a new (or returning) champion will get that green jacket slipped on them. For us, our pursuit of our hopes and dreams rest on our ability to eschew prevention when pursuit is the goal.
Keep chasing unleashed.
Quote of the Week:
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way succeed is always to try just one more time.”
~ Thomas Edison
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