"Keep score on what YOU can control"
Here's a little secret...
Keeping score is the most important thing a man can do...
Why?
I am about to tell you but before we go into that let's see if you remember a few things,
When we were kids (and I use WE as me and you fella) we kept score on everything...
From who scored the most goals at lunchtime,
To how much we could eat,
We kept score on everything.
Keeping score is the first of two powerful things you can do to keep yourself accountable.
And the second powerful thing is competing against something else that is the benchmark of the same game you are playing.
I'm not a smoker,
But many of my pals are, if they give up they can tell you how many days its been since they had a fag,
That IS keeping score...
It's internal, something we all did as kids but two things happened that stopped this.
One... We are told/learnt that keeping score is showing off so we stopped doing it.
Two.. we tell ourselves that keeping score doesn't matter (but only if we fail or think we WILL fail)
But here's the belter,
In golf with your HANDICAP, we get to compete with other golfers, other scores in a fair game.
Other players with different abilities and skills, but we play on a level playing field because of the handicap system. (depending on how many bandits there are, and we all know a few)
If we keep score of what we CAN control and not what is out of our hands we can stay consistent and motivated.
Here's the subtle difference on what we can and can't control.
We can't control the outcome but we can control the process.
Let me spit some examples.
Putting ...
We can't control where the ball finishes but we can control where it starts if we practice putting.
Fitness ...
We can't control how much weight we lose (no matter what horse shit you here, the body is always adapting to the demands we put on it) but we can control if we exercise every single day.
Focusing on what we can control (the process) and not the outcome means you can score it.
"Did I Do X today, YES or NO" No stories of why we couldn't, not reasons or excuses just a simple yes or no.
By focusing on what you can control, you can make it a fair game, a game we think we can win.
And if we think we CAN win we will TRY to win.
Writing the score that is not good enough down is what motivates us to do better.
Returning a scorecard in a tough round of golf of 22 points when it seems everyone else scored in the '30s is embarrassing but motivating to be better next time.
Motivation to get better comes from this pain.
This statement from Unstoppable B*stard Paul Mort is the reason to always keep score.
"If you lack the courage to keep score you will continue to justify your lack of results" Yep, it felt painful when I heard it too.
Play a game and keep score.
If you wanna know what game we play,
A game that helps us with our fitness,
Our golf and being pain-free while trying to hit the cover off of our ball?
Then go here.
https://www.johnseton.com/golfmobonline
Either way, what I want you to do next is...
1) Decide what the one thing is you are struggling with and find a way to score it.
2) Try to beat that score today and then again tomorrow.
Nice one
John Seton