I was ecstatic while watching Phil Mickelson win the PGA Championship Golf Tournament on Sunday. The pressure he was under to manage the challenging back nine in the final round was immense. Phil did such a great job of managing his emotions by utilizing a breathing strategy to re-focus either after a rare miss or when he was faced with a challenging next shot.
Phil made some amazing shots when he needed it most with a huge gallery behind him. He had the weight of many adoring fans around the world rooting for him. He had golf fans, sports fans, and non-golf fans that love a good story of inspiration. He had fans that love to root for the under-dog good guy, that also happens to be 50 years old playing against the top golfers in the world that are in their prime. That’s a lot of hope from others, to carry around a golf course, when the outcome is in doubt and its crunch time. But that he did all the way to the championship with a raucous crowd behind him on the 18th green.
Here is part of an article from www.stltoday.com/sports by Jeff Gordon (5/24/21):
Mickelson regressed in recent years, as all middle-aged golfers do, but he remained a workout fanatic. He refused to give in. The more his body barked, the harder he pushed to silence the doubts.
“I’ve never been driven by exterior things. I’ve always been intrinsically motivated because I love to compete, I love playing the game. I love having opportunities to play against the best at the highest level. That’s what drives me, and I think the belief that I could still do it inspired me to work harder. I just didn’t see why it couldn’t be done. It just took a little bit more effort.”
In doing so, he struck a blow for everybody still struggling to remain vibrant.
BL Follow-up: What can we learn from this great accomplishment?\
- Loving to compete matters in performance level.
- Loving to play the game comes before success.
- Embracing hard challenges is a prerequisite for true accomplishment.
- Self-belief and the willingness to work hard is a requirement to be your best.
- Proper preparation in exercise and diet are essential.
Reflect on your own life. Take inspiration from Phil Mickelson’s accomplishment.
Set at least one personal goal, which does not need to be sports related. Then go after it with a deliberate approach and the enthusiasm of a 50 year-old, trying to win the PGA Golf Championship.