photo credit: thegordons

Brian Clark recently wrote about the relevance of how Tiger Woods played through 91 holes to win the U.S. Open in spite of a torn ACL and stress fractures, and how you win online.

I agree with Brian and I also think there are similarities that are pertinent to anyone who wants to succeed at anything including increasing sales.

I don’t care who you are or what you try you will encounter obstacles.  The only way to overcome an obstacle is to make adjustments to your current approach.  Doing more of what you already know doesn’t work hoping for different results is 100% insanity.  Are you a touch insane?

Before Tiger walked out on the course to start his game on hole one he had one very clear objective for the event.  Tiger aimed to win.  In spite of some poor shots, pain from his knee, a crowd that was cheering for the underdog Tiger aimed to win.

A clear objective is the first step.  You have to follow that objective up with commitment.  Your commitment makes opting out not an option.  On Saturday it was plain to see Tiger was in real pain.  He’s already a multi-millionaire.  He’s already considered the number one golfer.  It would have been so easy for him to say, “To heck with this I’m going home to rest up my knee.”  But that wouldn’t be Tiger.  And if you want to be among the best it isn’t you either.

Tiger isn’t the best simply because he’s been playing since he was 3 years old.  Tiger continually invests in himself.  I believe the announcers mentioned three different coaches that Tiger pays to work with him.  Why?

Because Tiger knows those coaches can help him make the small adaptations in how he plays the game that make all the difference.  If you watched the U.S. Open you know he didn’t play every hole perfectly, but he played enough holes just one stroke better than everyone else to be the last man standing.  If you won’t invest in yourself I have to ask, “Is it because you don’t believe you can succeed?”

If that’s the case you may as well either settle for what you’ve got now, or give up because until you believe in yourself you won’t succeed at anything.

That mental toughness that Tiger has comes from his resolve.  Throughout the tournament one of the commercials was of Tiger’s father talking about Tiger’s mental toughness.  Mental toughness shouldn’t be confused with stubbornness.  Rather mental toughness is the resolve that comes from focused determination.  That focused determination is what motivates you to take one more step one more stroke one more chance than anyone else.  And it never allows excuses.

Tiger could have openly talked about his injuries before the tournament ever started.  If he had he would have prepared the announcers, the crowd, and himself for a loss because he certainly had a very real very valid EXCUSE.  But Tiger wouldn’t do that, would you?

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under sales coaching. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.