Decide where you want to be

It's so easy to be bogged down with just getting by, that it can feel like we don't have the space to work on something extra. Life can be pretty busy, so hectic in fact, that you can feel like a hamster on a wheel running and spinning but going nowhere. I know I feel it. I feel like all I do is rush to get ready, rush to get to work, rush to get all of my patients seen, rush home to do something else. I feel like I live off of writing to-do lists and checking off things from the list. I rush to get to the golf course to then have to wait on every hole. All I can think about is how much time I'm wasting because I have so many other things to do-rush, rush...blah.

Spinning in the hamster wheel makes me wonder what is this all for? Is this really living? Is this enjoyable? Some of it, yes. A lot of what we spend so much of our energy and time on throughout the day can feel like nonsense. Necessary things to live, but nonsense nonetheless in the grand scheme of things. It can be a struggle to live in the present. As Ferris Bueller famously said in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." At the end of the day, what is important? What are the things that really matter? What would you like to accomplish before it's too late?

This hamster in the wheel cycle will continue if we don't do something to make a change. There's rarely a perfect time to take on anything extra. We need to force ourselves to hop off that wheel ready or not, time allocated or not. Jump, tuck and roll off if you have to!

Do something to make a change.

Pattern interrupt.

Decide what would make it better. What do you want to do? Whatever in life you want to improve on, you have to decide you want to make a change. Decide you deserve a better relationship, decide you want a better job, decide you want to spend more time with family, decide you want to play better golf, make the decision.

Finding something you are really passionate about and enjoy spending your precious time on, should be a high priority to block off the time for in your life. Golf is that something for me. I really enjoy working on my game and competing.

As in life, if we aren't satisfied with where we are and the results we are getting, we need to make a shift, a change for the better. When you have decided to make a change for the better, you need to first take inventory of your starting point. For golf, that first step is to collect all the statistics on your game. Once you have accepted the current state of where your game is now, it's then time to make goals for where you want to take your game to.

This next step of goal setting requires some self assessment of what we think we are capable of accomplishing. This sets the table for the dream to be put in motion. If we think we can do something, we can. Then we can start to imagine ourselves fulfilling that dream and start piling up the building blocks one at a time to make it happen.

Dreaming up and setting goals helps you to see where you want to end up, which then allows you to step back and break down the steps of how you are going to get there.

The key here is to work backwards. First, set your one big dream goal. The one thing that you feel would require every ounce of your true potential to achieve with hard work. Then you break it down with several long term goals that will take some time to accomplish. You then crank the microscope down further and set short term goals that will be achieved much sooner and will take you down the path of achieving the long term goals. These short term and long term goals are stepping stones to your big dream goal.

If you want to play better golf, that requires a dedicated approach that allows for practicing and playing with a purpose, a goal.

Decide where you want to be.

Decide to get off the hamster wheel.

Make it happen.

Ready to set smarter golf goals and track your progress like a pro? Download the Break 70 Roadmap for step-by-step guidance and a sample worksheet filled with real examples to get you started!

Start setting your golf goals for next season by downloading this free blank Intentional Goals Worksheet.