Strategy 4 Saturday Blog (<4 minute read)
(Picture: Old North State Golf Club, Badin Lake, NC)
In his book, Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life, Craig Groeschel wrote, “Your Mind is a Battlefield, and the Battle for Your Life is Always Won or Lost in Your Mind.”
When I was playing golf at the Old North State Club in Biden Lake, North Carolina, I was reminded of this famous golf quote. Legendary golf instructor, Jim Flick said, “Golf is 90% mental and the other 10% is mental.”
Until last week, I had not played a full round of golf in over a year due to surgery. It was great to be back on the course again and to feel the sunshine, but if you can imagine, the golf swing wasn’t quite where it used to be.
There definitely was a war in my mind that day. Can I still hit the ball? Am I going to re-injure my hernia? All these things are going through my head and then of course, hearing other people instruct others on how to swing, and not to swing. The war was trying to stay focused.
But finally, as the round moved on, the old swing came back. I was able to hit a few good balls down the fairway. I was able to focus.
Focus
This past year, I have spent a lot of time in the classic, Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill.
It has helped me stay focused on the core principles of what it takes to grow a great business, despite the uncertain political and economic environment. The core principles have provided me the confidence to continue to move forward; even when my gut reaction is to “wait and see.”
Just to be clear, I am not a mindset coach. I have plenty of great mindset coaches that I’d recommend such as Scott Ballard, and JM Ryerson.
But the reality is, you have to change your habits, when making strategic decisions that alter the course of your business. And when you change your habits; it is not easy. There is a natural desire to go back to your “normal state of mind.” The difference between winning and losing, is overcoming our natural habits to create new ones that alter your mind and enable you to reach your new destination.
Key Principles From Think & Grow Rich
This YouTube video, Get Rich With These 13 Principles: Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill Summary, outlines the foundational concepts from Napoleon Hill’s influential book Think and Grow Rich. Here are the first 3 principles:
- Desire: Cultivate a burning, all-consuming desire for a clearly defined goal. This is the starting point for all achievements.
- Faith: Develop unwavering belief in your ability to achieve your goal. Faith acts as the foundation for transforming desire into reality.
- Auto Suggestion: Use positive affirmations and repeated self-talk to influence your subconscious mind and reinforce your goals.
Swing With Confidence
The key lesson for today is I encourage you to spend time this weekend and upcoming week, and document your thoughts. Write down the positives and especially the negative ones, the lies, and deceptions that we tell ourselves. Then, replace those negative thoughts with core truths and principles. Repeat them regularly until you root out the negative thoughts.
If you are a golfer, and you see a lake to your right, we start thinking that our ball may go into that lake. Therefore, many of us change our stance to avoid the water. The irony is that the change in our stance will make our shot worse. The key is to keep your alignment, regardless if there is water to your right or left.
This is the same with your business. Focus on the truths of your business that work and you are more likely to overcome the obstacles that we all face every day. You are in business to succeed. Focus your mind on the principles that work. Eliminate the rest. Then, you will see your efforts reach further, not just in business, but in life.
