Lessons from the Golf Course

from my Art Sobczak archives:

This Week's Tip:
Overcoming Fear; How I Did it On the Golf Course

Greetings!

This week I'll talk about situations where fear can be
paralyzing and potentially cause you to not perform to
your potential, and of course I'll relate it to sales.

However, my personal example is about golf.

Last weekend I played in a Member-Guest golf
tournament at a friend's club. We did pretty well,
qualifying into a seven-team 'shootout' for the
championship.

If you've never seen one of these, it's a fun event
to watch, and can be nerve-wracking for participants.

Most of the other players who don't qualify for the
shootout, and various other spectators watch from
their golf carts and follow the action hole-to-hole.

All 14 of the players on the seven teams start on the first
playoff hole. Then teams are eliminated on each hole
until there is a champion. It truly has the electric feel
of a big-time golf event, albeit on a smaller scale.

I'm not a great golfer, but respectable, and shoot in
the low-to-mid 80's, occasionally dipping into the 70's.
One other time, two years ago I was in a similar type of
shootout, and actually won it with my partner when it
came down to a chip-off against the other final team.

Even though I experienced a shootout before, being in
that situation last Sunday with all of these people
watching, just the thought of trying to hit a golf shot
where I wanted it to go was a bit unnerving.
(It's not easy even when no one is watching!).

In fact, evil doubts tried to creep into my head.

I have given over a thousand seminars and workshops
to groups as big as 2000 without any anxiety, but I
must admit, hitting the golf ball in this situation is
downright scary for me. In fact, I've been in less-
stressful golf situations where I still had "a little too
much going on upstairs" and completely botched shots.

As I played in that shootout with my partner on Sunday,
to help me handle the potential fear, I recalled my
mental notes about managing these types of situations
that I first read several years ago.

Jack Stark, sports psychologist for the University of Nebraska
football team, in an interview with the "Omaha World-Herald,"
said that activities such as golf, place kicking, free-throw
shooting, job interviews (and let me add, sales calls) that
require a burst of activity after down time are fertile breeding
grounds for negative thoughts that can cause even a polished pro to
turn into a Jello-legged babbling Elmer Fudd.


Self-destructive thoughts ("Please don't hit it into the water,
again, dummy," or, "I hope I don't say something stupid.") cause an
adrenaline rush, according to Stark, that result in 1,200 chemical
changes in one-tenth of a second.

He says these changes inhibit our finer thinking and natural motor
activity. That means instead of just doing what we're otherwise
capable of expertly and repeatedly in a role play situation, or when
no one is watching at the driving range, we lose it when it counts.

So what should we do to avoid turning into Gumby when faced
with money situations?

Stark teaches players a system that also works in any life
circumstance. He calls it FOCUS, an acronym to help remember
the steps.

FORGET. Start with a blank sheet. The past doesn't exist. Do not,
I repeat, DO NOT let negative images or thoughts enter into your
mind. I did not think about dumping the ball into the water on the two
holes where I needed to hit over it from 175 yards.

ORGANIZE. Get your notes, product info, whatever you need in
front of you. Position your body properly.

CONCENTRATE. Visualize the call or shot in a positive light. See the
ideal call. Hear the words being spoken--by you and the customer-
as you want them to occur. Matt Oechsli, author of the "Inner
Game of Selling," suggests using affirmations in the present tense:

"I will sell this big account."

"I will land the ball next to the pin."

As King Soloman said, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."


UNWIND. Take a slow, deep breath. Loosen your shoulders.


SHOOT. Dial the phone. Place the call. Begin the swing. Don't worry
about how you're going to succeed. Let it happen. Thinking about
HOW it will happen at this point is sure to throw you off. A long-jumper
doesn't think about his jump when he's in the middle of it. He's thinking
about the other side, the result.

The next time you're faced with a situation that raises your
anxiety level, practice these ideas and you'll perform at the
high level you're capable of.

And oh, if you're wondering how we did, well, I'd like to tell you
that this ended as a Cinderella story and we won the championship.

Close, but not quite.

Jim and I both managed to hit clutch shots, keeping us
progressing as four other teams were eliminated. My butterflies
were flying like crazy, but in formation as I managed to keep those
FOCUS points in mind (the ample Bud Lights contributed a bit too).

Three teams remained, with the other two being much lower-handicap
(better) golfers than us.

The next hole was a 165-yard par 3, with the pin nestled between a front
and back sand bunker, and only a sliver of green about 8 yards wide
to work with. You've go to be kidding me, I thought. No room for error.

The other four players all hit their shots fairly close to the pin.

Damn.

Then my partner sprayed his well to the right, off the green.

I was next.

I went through my mental routine, and proceeded to hit my most purely-
struck shot of the day, right on the screws, directly at the pin.

Beautiful trajectory...several people in the gallery yelled "great
shot," "nice swing," and I do recall someone screaming,
"Go in the hole!"

And it landed...

...two yards too long, absolutely buried in the back bunker with just
the top of the ball peeking out of the sand.

I proceeded to spray my sand shot into the other bunker across
the green, while my partner did the same.

Third place. Oh well.

You can bet the next time I'm in that situation, it will be even
easier, just like anything we initially fear, but work to overcome.

Go and Have Your Best Week Ever!

Art

Quote of the Week
"You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up
your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere
except in the mind."
Dale Carnegie

Contact: Art Sobczak, President, Business By Phone Inc. 13254 Stevens St.,
Omaha, NE 68137, (402) 895-9399. Or, email:arts@businessbyphone.com

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