Going Beyond the "Self"

Going beyond the "self" is an incredibly powerful mind conceptual pattern that can tremendously enhance our experience on and off the golf course. Golf renders us a perfect setting for developing this tool to cultivate many new experiences. It can be respectfully called a playground for our character and growth — where we learn what conscious thoughts work to enhance our mind, body, and interpersonal experiences and interactions. Envision one of your favorite courses — perhaps one of the incredible settings designed by greats such as Jack Nicklaus, Pete Dye, or Robert Trent Jones Junior and Senior. The course can be powerful in itself. It can give illusions, beauty, and mystery. It can be the simple manifestation of the presence of the connection between oneself and nature.
 
It is important for any golfer to have confidence in the way they swing, in the way they look, and the way in which they believe they will perform. But even more important for us is: we can learn how to keep a healthy perspective on life. I firmly believe that a healthy perspective is what defines "going beyond the self."
 
A "healthy perspective" can be defined as, “living in the present and enjoying each moment as if there will be no tomorrow.” There is one essential part of living in the moment: Your "in-the-moment thoughts" should be POSITIVE. It is difficult, if not impossible, to enjoy negative thinking and processing. Therefore, it is critically important to think of the bright side of an issue or concept and to not "sweat the small stuff." The small or menial issues can build up over time and create large, negative patterns or programs in our brains. These tend to perpetuate and develop behaviors and negative psycho-chemical patterns that are hard to modify even if one gets the proper treatment. Negative or worrying thoughts are certainly not healthy to the neuro-chemical systems of the human body. Conversely, positive thoughts are fortifying and nutritive to our systems. Everything that we think, feel, act upon, enjoy, or dislike creates different chemical reactions and stimulates the emotional centers in our brain. Thoughts are the catalysts that our brains use to change or alter chemical synapses about information from our experiences. Therefore, we can clearly see that good conscious management of our emotions can have a profoundly positive effect on our health.

As a doctor, I see that the more we know through neuroendocrine and psychoneural research, the more we understand that a healthy perspective is living freely in the present and being mental positively. In everyday life, there is simply no downside to this concept; there are only favorable results that will occur with this thinking. Sure, in some cases of technology and safety regulations, there might there be exceptions to this thinking. For example, lateral or tangential thinking like contemplation or calculations of outcomes may be helpful to weigh strategies of worst-case/best-case scenarios when it comes to topics such as the manufacturing of automobile safety mechanisms. But for the sake of your health as well as enjoying life, being positive with your thoughts is essential and certainly a win-win situation.

Living every precious moment with a healthy perspective, as well as appreciating everything around you, are the concepts of going beyond the "self." The great gift about golf is that it conceptually lays down the perfect playing field for success. It is the combination of nature, beautiful course designs, great people, and the incredible history of the game itself which reminds us to simply take the time to appreciate what we have.

For example, simply exercise your mind before and during your next round of golf and take note and truly appreciate the beauty of the course itself. Then, take this advice to the next step; take every opportunity possible to look and appreciate any and all of nature’s marvelous beauty. Let your eyes roam and reach out to see nature's beauty: Take time to look at the leaves turning, the cactus’ characteristics, the fullness of the grass, and take a moment to lean over and smell the roses. Living beyond yourself by appreciating and incorporating the value of nature will give you a chance to find a peace within yourself. Developing and integrating this integrity of mind and gratitude will give you a sense of completeness, confidence and serenity which can definitely fortify your inner confidence and be additional components in the psyche of success.

Beyond appreciation of the beauty, attempt to identify the challenges and the forgiving qualities of the course you play. Attempt to identify what the course is offering you. Look at the essence of the course. Fill your mind with the connecting factors within nature. A cynic may scoff at the notion and wonder why this would be of any benefit whatsoever. The simple answer is "you are what you think." Don’t ever surrender compassionate knowledge and awareness when it is simply lying well within your reach of understanding. All we need to do is practice creating a thought. The more we do this simple task, the easier it will become.

Connecting the physical attributes of the course with your mind is similar to developing mutual respect with one of your colleagues at work. The course itself can be your partner. How many times do we believe that we got the "membership" bounce or perhaps a really great kick off a tree? The course can be an ally and we can work synergistically with the habitat. It really will depend on your confidence and view of your premise. The positive individual will look for the opening in the fairway, whereas the negative individual will look to steer the ball away from the hazard. Completeness, serenity, gratitude, and inner confidence are the four cornerstones for the development of a positive individual that looks and finds success.

Practice of the "Golfer’s Eleven Principles of Character" (in my previous article) will enable a person to enhance and unify the body, mind, and spirit. This is to say: A golfer with character can develop and practice the connection of positive thought and emotion to the physical efforts. It is through this belief in character that our spirit will allow us to succeed and evolve. This spiritual component can be derived from many different sources and it will mean different things to different people. The important factor is that we allow ourselves to recognize that the game of golf parallels life and the characteristics of the process are critical to success. To some, the mystique itself can be spiritual. Others may rely and embrace a higher source such as God for guidance. The critical factor is to develop a sense of completeness within oneself.

Before you swing, remember the acronym, "R-VE," which stands for relax, visualize, and execute. The result is that you will become powerful and focused. Before your shot, calm your nervous system and take time to relax by taking a deep breath in through your nose, pushing your diaphragm downwards for three seconds then follow this by exhaling slowly for three seconds, letting any tension release from your body. Then, visualize the perfect ball flight of your next shot. Finally, set up to your ball and execute your shot. Practice this a few times until it becomes natural and part of your routine. The synergism of a body, mind, and spirit connection will allow you to hit great shots and reach your highest goals and aspirations.

Mystique, confidence, appreciation, and completeness are the dividends of a selfless attitude. Going beyond your "self" is the beginning, the opening to the gates of peace, imagination, respect, and confidence. Practice becoming selfless and your health and enjoyment of life on and off the golf course will be greatly enhanced.