Trust Your Swing

I remember some golfing advice I once heard that I slowly came to realise can apply to far more than just your golf game. That advice? - Trust your swing! The sentiment behind "trust your swing" - is relevant not just in all sports, but in any difficult, challenging and confronting endeavor your care to think of.

So "Trust your swing" in the golfing sense was advice about not over complicating matters on the golf course when you're in the midst of a tough round. Stand over the ball, relax, and trust your swing to do the right thing as you play the next shot.

If (and when) it is not working, don't change, don't second guess, don't move your head forward and inch, your back foot this way or your knees that way. Trust what you've learned and practices to see you through.

Now, the key then becomes, what you've learned and practiced. Make sure, when the time is right, not in the heat of the day to day battle (be that battle playing a round of golf, a game of cricket or football, running business or losing weight) it helps differentiate between the training, learning and practicing, and the executing.  Work hard as you train and learn, formulate your rules, your game plan, (your daily plan and your character) then execute. Trust your plan and the knowledge and experience you have that went into it.

I often feel a lot of anxiety about my days, especially when I'm challenged and especially facing new initiatives or competitive situations, but I can often feel more relaxed when thinking, "ok, I've practiced this a hundred times", relax and let that work do it's thing.



Seth Godin calls anxiety - "experiencing failure in advance". Worrying about upcoming events, challenges or just what might crop up in your day, is like paying bills before you receive them. You can always deals with what life throws up at you, but not usually before it gets thrown up. So prepare, definitely. plan, get ready, even rehearse - that part is developing a good swing. But mentally, stressing, being anxious - playing the game / holding the meeting in your head a hundred times in the lead up, is stressful, it's hard work, it's tiring, most importantly it's not fun, and there's no need for it.

Now I'm no big shot in any discipline really. It's not like I'm anywhere close to a quality golfer or sportsman of any kind and the same goes for my work endeavors, but the point really is, that when you're feeling anxious about up coming challenges, practice harder, work at learning as much as you can now, and trust in those lessons and that practice later.