Photo by Thomas Hawk via Flickr

I’m a genuine hack at golf.

However, I have learned one valuable lesson from the game that is relevant for many other areas of life.

If you ever have to hit your ball over a body of water, the temptation is to say to yourself repeatedly, “Don’t hit the ball in the water” before you take a swing.

Unfortunately, all that does is focus your subconscious mind on the obstacle in front of you, increasing your likelihood of actually hitting the ball into the water.

Instead, you need to focus on hitting the ball high into the sky and landing it safely on the other side.  This way of thinking will dramatically increase your chances of a positive outcome.

Remember this principle when confronted with other obstacles in life.

When you have a significant problem at work, don’t sit there looking at the issue, focus on finding a resourceful solution.

If you want to break a negative habit, don’t focus on quitting your old activity, give yourself something new to work towards.

When dealing with people, don’t spend excessive time thinking about the aspects of their personality that annoy you, focus on their positive attributes.

When applying for a job, don’t dwell on the reasons why you may not be successful in your application, remember the strengths that you would bring to the role.

Don’t focus on where you don’t want to go, the problem, the negative, the hazard, the water.

Focus on where you want to end up, the solution, the positive, the dream, the sky!

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