"MAKING LIFE WORK" THOUGHTSMOTIVATIONAL THOUGHTS FOR THE WORK ENVIRONMENT "MAKING LIFE WORK" Thoughts are freely distributed as an ezine every 2-3 weeks. E-mail me for your free subscription The 2007 edition is now available on request
A few people have asked me how the golf game went last week. (You remember my “Making Life Work” Thought on the benefits of slowing down my swing and letting the clubhead do the work?) Well the principle worked just fine! But, as golfing readers know, you ‘drive for show and putt for dough’! I didn’t make any dough. But I enjoyed the game immensely. So the message still holds. You get more consistent enjoyment out of life when you ease off the pace slightly and allow your natural talents do their thing. Now…. if I can just do something about my chipping and putting…
How to Let Life Have Its Head I am having one of my rare games of golf in a few days so I went to the driving range today. Like most weekend golfers I tend to play by the peter principle – playing to my level of incompetence. I get seduced by seeing how easy the pro’s make it look. So today I decided I should be sure to hit the first few balls slow and steady until I got my eye in. First ball – relaxed, slow, short backswing and easy follow through, almost lazy. Wow! Straight down the middle, good height, good distance, good swing. Second ball, same idea, slow and relaxed - similar result. Every one of the next dozen or so shots produced similar success. I hadn’t tried to hit the ball hard – I just let the club-head do what it’s designed for. I had remembered one of the prime principles of successful golf. Then I thought, it’s not just a great principle for successful golf. It’s a great principle for work and life. We are forever trying to live by the peter principle – going beyond our level of incompetence. We become frustrated, stressed and wish we could do better. The fact is we can work and live well if we relax more and enjoy letting our natural talents and abilities have their head. We surprise ourselves – and sometimes others – in the results we achieve. We spend less time in the rough and make fewer mistakes along the way. Our self belief rises, with the ripple effect spreading across everything we do at work, home and play. I may not have hit like the pro’s today. But I loved what I achieved. I enjoyed seeing what I can do if I relax and let my natural abilities have their head. I’m looking forward to the week with a new spring in my step. I hope I still feel that way after my golf game.
|
|
|
|
| o | |


