The “Life Hack” Nobody Wants To Do
Everybody talks about short cuts and life hacks.
Let me tell you what actually works: Commitment
My son is around the same age I was when I started to get serious about golf. It was the summer of 1996, I had only played a few rounds in my life up to that point but I wanted to get better. I would go out and shoot around 105-110 when I played. Not great at all but not uncommon for a new player.
The good news is that I didn’t know how to get better other than playing. I wasn’t hitting balls at the range or working on my swing. I just went out to play.
That year for our summer break, my brother and I joined a local public course called Endwell Greens. We were able to get a junior golf membership for like $300 for the entire year.
And we wore it out.
Our mom would drop us off in the morning before work and we’d play 18 holes, grab lunch at the grill, and head back out for another 18 (Yes, we played 2 rounds most days!). I don’t have a ton of specific memories from that summer but I remember how excited I was every day to get out there and play. And I remember how good I got. Not by having some perfect swing but by getting better at playing, shot after shot, day after day. I learned how to “golf by ball”.
By the time summer break ended I was consistently shooting in the high 80s, a full 20 shots lower than when it started.
I didn’t realize it at the time but that experience taught me about commitment.
Commitment is when you make a concerted effort to change. It’s when you prioritize the most important things and set up the boundaries to keep you on track. Many fail because they haven’t set up the systems to succeed.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, I had set the conditions for me to commit and stick with it.
My goal: I wanted to get better at golf.
→ So, I bought the golf membership
this made me not want to waste my hard earned paper-route money.
→ I had an accountability partner
Luckily, my brother wanted to get better, too, so it was a win win
→ We had no where else to go
Our mom dropped us off in the morning. We were at the club. Even if we didn’t feel like it every day we’d get some practice in.
→ We were focused on learning.
Our “why” wasn’t shooting low scores. It was having fun. We just enjoyed being out on the course and challenging ourselves with each shot. The improvement got in the way.
Commitment is the first step to getting started with anything. If you aren’t committed, you’ll never set the conditions to succeed. And it’s those conditions that keep you going when it gets tough.
Some ideas on how to create those conditions (or boundaries)
Break the goal into smaller chunks and start with the smallest step.
Block out time on your calendar every day just like you would a business meeting.
Be prepared to do something small, to keep the momentum.
Make it easy to not miss
If you want to workout don’t pick a gym 25 min away
If you want to eat healthy don’t have junk food in your house.
Find others to support you and hold you accountable.
Commitment builds momentum to keep us going when it gets hard. The more we show up and do the thing, the more confidence we have that we can achieve the goal we set out to achieve. But, we have to give ourselves “bumpers” to keep us on track. Eventually, we start to build better habits with those systems in place.
If you want to commit to doing that thing you’ve always wanted to do, don’t simply pick a goal to achieve.
Make sure you ask myself, “How can I create the conditions where I won’t be able to miss.”
Great article