Don’t Just Reach For The Stars

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”  – Walt Disney

What drives you?  What makes you tick?  Everyone is different with their answers.  To have a purpose there must be an end result that you are trying to attain.  I for one have achieved several of the dreams that I have made for myself.  After college, I worked to become a PGA Professional.  I’m very happily married to a beautiful woman who I also consider my best friend.   And together we have terrific family with three wonderful children.  Those are just a few of the dreams I have accomplished in my personal life.

But what about my golf dreams?  As I mentioned I became a PGA Professional, but some of the other dreams I have had that I’ve accomplished include breaking 70 for 18 holes (personal best of 65), make a hole-in-one, or win a golf tournament.  These are dreams that most golfers have, that I have been fortunate enough to have had come true.   Believe me though, my list of dreams is still quite long and I keep plugging away at achieving them.  For example there is still a dream of playing in a PGA Tour event.

Dreams are the big picture, each made up of several goals along the way.  If you achieve these small goals you will achieve your dreams.  Every time I play golf, I set a goal for myself to try and make a score of 3, six times during an 18 hole round.  This means that I have made par on all of the par 3 holes and made a birdie on two par 4’s.  Whenever I am able to reach this goal, it gets me a step closer to reaching a dream.  Put this goal together with another goal of mine, play a round of golf bogey free.  To do this I am on top of my game, putting all of the pieces together in a single round.  But when these two goals happen on the same day, I will usually achieve one of my dreams…breaking 70.

What I encourage you to do is to write down two lists.  One is your list of dreams.  The grandest aspirations you can think of.  The second is your list of goals.  These are all of your singular achievements you want to accomplish.   Now what you need to do is look at your dreams and figure out what goal or combination of goals it would take to achieve them.  This will give you a great direction to focus on the next time you are out playing.  You will find that instead of focusing on the big picture (your dreams) that if you put your attention on smaller details (the goals) you will not loose your focus as easily, stay in your game, and ultimately achieve your dreams!