Have you ever noticed that when you allow yourself to look beyond the obvious, you can learn some cool stuff from the most interesting places.  Last weekend we headed across the state of Oregon into Idaho to visit family for the Easter Weekend.  I learned a few unexpected lessons while there.

I guess my journey over the last few years has taught me that we miss out on a lot of opportunities and lessons simply because we don’t take the time to look around and really see what’s going on.  It’s amazing what you can learn when you start looking!

My brother-in-law, Scott, suggested that he and his son Sam and me and my son Scott go hit a bucket of balls at the local golf course.  Spring seems to finally be showing up and it sounded like a great idea.

We picked up our buckets from the clubhouse, filled them up and headed over to the driving range.  I have a set of clubs and have been playing golf on and off since High School but the lack of consistent play pretty much leaves me reinventing my game on an annual basis.

As I watched the others hit and began hitting my own bucket, I actually tried to focus on my swing and then it struck me that golf is a lot like most of the challenges we have in life.  I may lose some of you here, but golf is only a game, really, it is.  Some of us just take it more serious than others.

What I found interesting is that we can use some of the same principles in improving our golf game as we can in improving our life and here are four of them:

WHAT DO I NEED TO START?

Well, if I want to improve my golf game, I better start playing more consistently.  Dusting off the clubs two of three times a year does not a golfer make.

If I want to improve my life, I need to follow through more consistently and I’m not referring to my golf swing.

WHAT DO I NEED TO STOP?

Several years of slicing and hooking have centered my focus on trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong.  I should be focusing on what I need to do right.

In life, I need to move away from deficit based thinking and focus on the assets I have instead of the deficiencies.  Making what I already do right better, will eliminate the bad stuff without even thinking about it.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO LESS OF?

Like many golfers, I spend way to much time thinking about the next swing.  Too many moving parts and too many options.  Limit the things to work on to one or two and take care of them first.

In life, it is no different.  Too many things I want to do, which translates to not doing any of them very well at all.  Less shiny squirrels and less options reduces the noise and clutter and brings clarity to any situation.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO MORE OF?

Simple – create better habits.  Habits come from repetition.  Driving range, putting green and chipping from the fringe.  Practice, practice and then practice.

Now I realize life is not practice but this I know – the more I do something, the better I will get at it.  This goes for good things and bad.  What do I need to do more of?  The things that really matter.  The things that make a difference.

Look at that – a simple bucket of balls at a golf course and look what I learned from it.  A couple of questions to leave you with …

What opportunities are you currently missing out on in your life because you are simply not taking the time to notice them?  [Tweet This]

Maybe the more important question is what are you going to start, stop, do more of or do less of in order to see them and act on them?

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Barry Smith  4/25/14   photo courtesy of amazon   © Building What Matters 2014