mind coach

“Do Not Try, Just Do”

March 16, 2011 by admin

By Dr. Ron Cruickshank, Golf Mind Coach & GGA Director, Canada

Today was a good day. My son Blade, a collegiate lacrosse player at Guilford College in North Carolina, was requested this year to take up the goalie position. Now, if you know anything about lacrosse you know this is like setting yourself up at the business end of a shooting gallery, without much padding. His first month was a regular series of phone calls asking Mom for some home remedies for bruises and bumps all over his body.

Most of his buddies questioned his sanity for taking up the goalie position, as it is common knowledge that this position can result in being ‘gun shy’ and develop an early case of the jitters as you are trying to avoid getting whacked on the shins with a ball about the same density as a hockey puck. Not fun!

So, why was it a good day when my son’s schedule calls for him to show up as the target for 30 top athletes with sticks? The reason was a call we had today in which he shared he had a great day of practice, maybe his best ever at this level. That was a change from the last couple of months.

As we queried the reasons, he told us that he had pulled some advice from the past (meaning something his old Dad had told him) and decided to start humming whenever he was under intense assault from the opposing attack men. “It worked great,” he said. “Got a few strange looks from my teammates, but they liked the results.” He further added. “I was able to quit trying so hard and just let it happen without thinking about it.”

Read carefully here and understand the message. What he was doing by humming was interrupting his own internal dialogue (negative, fearful, uncertain) and letting his body do what it already was programmed to do. That is, watch a ball coming towards him at 90 MPH and catch it in a net connected to stick in his hands. His body knew how to do that because he has practiced it thousands of times and has it stored in his brain within thousands of neural circuits. Yet, something was getting in his way.

What most often gets in the way is a negative internal dialogue that gets manifested as some self-defeating behavior. It gets more complicated when you attach real pain to this dialogue (he actually got whacked a bunch of times). It then becomes what is known in behavioral science jargon as a “kinesthetic or visual anchor’. That is, just the visual imagery of the ball or even a feeling or thought can cause the body to be less than resourceful and reduce overall performance.

Let me give you an example. If you will imagine you are driving along a nice scenic highway on a lovely spring day. Your car is new and freshly washed, the windows are down and the trees seem extra green and vivid. The flowers are out, the air is crisp and you have a sense of well-being and things seem right with the world. All of a sudden a flashing blue light appears directly behind you and the Highway Patrol guy is motioning you to pull over. Whoops! Now tell me what happened to your emotional state as you imagined this scene? That is an anchor and the feeling you got is similar to what happens when you let your dialogue get negative under stress.

There is a memorable scene I love in the movie Star Wars. Luke Skywalker is trying to raise his crashed ship from the primordial ooze and is unable. In frustration, Yoda tells him. “Do not try Luke, just do!” What a great statement by a great teacher. Yoda was telling Luke to get his preconceptions, his fears, his wishes and his wants out of the way and just let his mind and body do what it knew how to do. In Yoda’s sentiments, trying doesn’t exist, you either do or you don’t.

The lesson here, for each of us, is that performance is often inhibited because we care too much. We want to do well so intensely that the desire itself becomes a type of over care or stress and the toll it takes – is our performance.

If you are seeking to maximize your performance when playing golf, or any other aspect of your life, where you get into a state of over care, it makes great sense to reduce the significance of the event in any way you can. My son is doing it by humming because you can’t think and hum at the same time (try it, it is true).

You can practice reducing significance by trying the following:

Being truly in the here and now. Focus on what is happening this second.
Think of the game you are in as just a fun round without any real consequence to you. You dissociateyourself from the emotional meaning.
Focus on a physiological aspect, like your breathing. This moves your thoughts of performance into the background.
Direct interruption of your internal dialogue – hum your favorite tune. This can be done sub-vocalized to keep the noise down, or perhaps you might be playing with the members of a rock band and they would enjoy it.
Develop and rely on a routinethat allows you to minimize your thoughts beyond what you are actually doing. This is why so many Pro’s use a strict pre-shot routine for every shot, especially putting, because this is when they are most susceptible to minor muscle movement related to stress. When they get under pressure they have a familiar routine to fall back on that lets them compartmentalize their internal dialogue to the rehearsed procedure.

You hear this reflected often in post-round interviews when a pro will tell the interviewer. “I was trying to not get ahead (a head) of myself.” What he is telling us all highlights his desire not to let distracting, and unrelated to the task at hand, internal dialogue begins to affect his performance. If you are thinking about getting the trophy in an hour, or your gracious acceptance speech, it is hard to be lining up and executing the perfect putt.

In general, if you reduce the emotional significance of an event, you will reduce negative emotional impact on your state of being and that translates into improved performance. Your body is a closed and connected loop and every part is interacting with the other.

So, as to my humming lacrosse playing goalie son, I will report that his team is off to its best start in 20 years, with 5 wins and 1 loss so far this season. Now that’s a tune we can all enjoy.

About the Author: Dr. Ron Cruickshank recently opened the GGA – Moe Norman Golf School as part of the GGA expansion program into Canada. He is headquartered at the Royal Ashburn Golf Club in Whitby Ontario. This year’s offerings include a variety of Specialty Clinics in addition to the regular GGA Schools. If you are serious about getting better this year call Ron at 647-892-4653.

Old Dogs and New Tricks: Mastering Mental Flexibility as We Age

February 27, 2011 by admin

By Dr. Ron Cruickshank, Golf Mind Coach & GGA Director, Canada

A few years back I had the privilege of studying with a group of Aikido martial art masters in Tokyo at a legendary Dojo (training center) in the heart of the city. All of these men were over 60 and several over 70 years of age. What became immediately apparent, and of long lasting imprint on my mind, was how fresh and dynamic they all were. Not of just of body, but of mind, energy and spirit.

This made an enormous impression on me that has lasted for many years. Each master constantly had a calm smile on his face. When on the tatami mats (and off), they exuded a sense of confidence and wellbeing. To a man, they were funny and constantly finding things to laugh about. However, mostly I noticed they seemed incredibly flexible in their approach to things around them. It was a palpable and observable phenomenon. Later I came to think of this energetic as ‘no resistance’. They didn’t seem in resistance to “things” around them. I’ve come to believe this is a major component to maintaining our vitality as we age and in our ability to take on and master new things.

My impression of these men began with their physical carriage and manifested in their approach to things around them. These guys weren’t all crouched over; bent of spine and looking like aged steaks. They walked upright, held their shoulders back, glided when they walked. They had a sense of dynamic tension in their bodies and one had the sense they were highly attuned to things around them. In other words, these guys didn’t match societal norms for being “older”.

While admitting the stereotypes might be changing, I find most people still have a diminished personal representation of what it means to be ‘older’ or to age. Try a fun experiment to discover the societal archetype of an older person. Ask anyone to stand up and demonstrate what it looks like to be ‘old’ by walking 5 feet across the room. In most cases your respondent will adopt a stooped body position, their shoulders bent forward and be a bit off balance in their carriage and stance and move with a halting gait across the 5 feet. THAT demonstration is their internal representation of what it means to be old and I believe is the pattern they will adopt as time passes.

What would happen if we had a different and more empowering representation of what it means to age? This is worth exploring because it is my position that all these mental and physical representations require energy to maintain in both your mind and your body. Ultimately, your body will manifest into reality your imagery of being old and aging. Remember, every thought requires energy and all this energy must be accounted for and maintained.

My mentor, and model of positive aging was Dr. Jim Farr. A brilliant psychologist and lifetime martial artist, he was vibrant and active to the end of his life at age 84. He was still teaching at the University on a part-time basis, still going to the Y a few times a week and maintained an inquisitive and probing mind till the end. On the day he died, he spent the morning weed eating the ditch on the long driveway into his farm, and then worked in his garden. He came in and had lunch, took a walk and then came in for a late afternoon libation. At some point he told his wife he didn’t feel great and he went into his bedroom and left the planet. I can only aspire to go out the same way.

So what characteristics did both the martial arts masters and my friend Jim have that made them so perceptibly different in the way they aged? The following observations are taken from my journal writings on this subject, many going back over 25 years. In fact, the first entry on this subject was in 1977.

Negative aging is associated with energy being spent in maintaining a particular view of the world and how it ‘should be’, as opposed to how it is. People that want it “different” spend enormous energy trying to rearrange things to fit their world-view. This seldom works and is a big energy drain. It also produces anger and frustration when expectations aren’t met. The chemicals within your body that are released from anger are correlated with aging and stress related diseases.
Individuals that age well don’t seem to express or hold a lot of judgments about things. They aren’t spending a lot of their life energy seeking to organize things ‘the way they should be’.
Anytime you hear yourself or others utter the words “should”, “shouldn’t”, “must”, “have to”, “got to” or “ought to”, you should become aware you are expressing a judgment that is energy draining. Ask yourself. What would happen if I didn’t… (fill in your judgment statement)?
These judgments require enormous energy to carry around and manifest in your life. Positive older people recognize that if you can’t change something, the best avenue is to accept it and move on.
Vibrant older people want toWear out, not rust out. They keep their body moving. The single greatest reason old people get frail and fall, thus starting the inevitable decline, is because the muscles in their legs and body core are underutilized and they can’t maintain their balance under movement and duress.

Research published within the last three years show that falls and loss of balance in older people are correlated with three issues.

o The inner ear balance mechanism degrades with time.

o Due to inactivity, the body core muscles are not strong enough to hold a person upright when leaning in a particular direction or balance is lost and they don’t have the strength to recover

o The small muscles of the feet and ankles are so depleted as a result of people’s sedentary life style, that their balance is compromised.

With some basic exercise you can absolutely control two out of three of these variables. Exercise like yoga and Pilates are particularly helpful.

More good news! Regardless of your age, a significant body of research has shown you can grow and develop muscle at any age. Strength or resistance training has shown to develop lean muscle in people of all ages. In one study, a group of elderly people that were restricted to wheelchairs were all able to walk within three months just by doing weight training and balance exercises. It is never too late. Your body will respond and you can get stronger or more flexible or have better balance regardless of your age.

Hardening of the Categories

Most people think about hardening of the arteries when thinking about aging. From a mental perspective I suggest that the rigidity of both body and mind that is associated with aging is more a result of hardening of the categories.

By the time you have reached 50 years of age, you have made millions of choices in your life. Imagine that each time you have had a negative experience you decided to not do that behavior or make that choice again. From one perspective that is the voice of experience (don’t stick your hand in a blender – good choice). From another perspective, you are vastly limiting your options or choices for any given situation.

If your automatic reaction is to not consider an option because of a previous experience, then by the time you are 70 years of age you have a greatly diminished selection of options. Fewer options mean less chance of system survival. I wrote about his phenomena, called the Law of Requisite Variety, a few blogs ago. Essentially, the system with the most options wins and the converse is also true.

What do these thoughts about aging have to do with playing better golf or achieving a higher level of performance in your game? Quite simple. Many people won’t even consider making a change in their game or adopting a new approach because they have a belief that they are too old to change, or that making a change is too hard at this stage of the game. This is not supported by the facts. You can make a change at any stage and it is never too late to learn and get better. All it takes is your decision.

One year I was with Todd, Moe and Larry Olsen in Titusville, Florida on the driving range. Moe was in his 60’s at the time. As usual he was hitting balls with unerring accuracy. On this day there was a stiff breeze into our faces and Moe was working on trajectory into the wind (he hit the pin four times from 180 yards in the first 15 minutes by the way). However, what I most remember was Moe telling us how excited he was about a swing change he had made recently and he kept telling us with much animation that he had ‘finally learned how to putt”. The lesson was clear, if Moe was learning in his 60’s, then what a great example to follow.

For me, what the martial arts masters, my professional mentor and Moe all demonstrated was a joy of learning and full engagement in life. They all knew or discovered that age is just a number and that you can be ‘aged’ at 20 and ‘young’ at 80. Let’s all reverse the aging process this year and challenge the self-imposed archetypes of what it means to grow older. What do you have to lose?

About the Author: Dr. Ron Cruickshank recently opened the GGA – Moe Norman Golf School as part of our expansion program into Canada. We are headquartered at the Royal Ashburn Golf Club in Whitby Ontario, a top 50 Canadian course. He is currently seeking to age well while simultaneously accepting applications for a limited number of students this year. If you are serious about getting better and owning your golf swing you can reach him at 647-892-4653.

SLOMO Putting Can Make You a Fast Eddy!

February 1, 2011 by admin

Dynamic new technique for becoming a great putter

By Dr. Ron Cruickshank, Golf Mind Coach & GGA Director, Canada

When thinking about using slow motion training techniques what comes to mind for most folks is the big movement, the full power swing. However, we’ve been working on developing a slowmo process for putting this winter, and the results are promising. Just like the big muscles, the fine motor skills used in putting are in need of stored repetitive skill circuits, building myelin superhighways in the brain through repetition of high quality movement. We KNOW this is the path to excellence. At this stage of our understanding, I believe the slow motion practice to be the most effective method of building skills circuits known.

If you need any motivation to spend more time getting better at putting, let the following statistic tell the story. On the PGA Tour for the years 2008 and 2009, 40% of all strokes were putts, and these are the best players in the world. Over time, your ability to putt effectively will determine your score more than any other part of your game.

The two most important variables in putting are your distance control (governed by speed) and direction control. They are often referred to as the “Two D’s” of putting. The best putters always favor superior distance control, because they know that even the pros miss over 50% of putts from 6 feet. If you’re a mid to high handicap, your percentage of misses from 6 feet is probably higher.

If you aren’t close to the hole after your first putt, your two-putt percentage will suffer dramatically. This is very important, but not the subject of this blog. In our slow motion training, we are going to focus on the second most important element in great putting – DIRECTION control – that is primarily controlled by alignment and path. These are variables you can control as well as the experts.

One reason slow mo training aids your putting dramatically is that putting well requires the highest degree of precision within your repertoire of shots. The slow motion putter training allows you to get highly accurate feedback relevant to the critical DIRECTIONAL components of face angle at address, the moment of impact and path.

Research has shown that a 3-degree error at impact with your driver will STILL hit a fairway of 36-yard width with a drive of up to 340 yards in length. The same 3-degree face angle error at impact with your putter will not make a putt of longer than 2.58 feet from the hole. So remember, when on the green precision rules.

In putting there are Four Determinants that will control your outcome (putts drained). Those four determinants are:

Face angle at address
The path of the club during the mini-swing
The speed of your swing through the impact zone
The face angle at impact

Working with students this winter we have determined they get noticeably better at all four determinants when using the slow motion training techniques outlined below. I am not sure why this training helps in speed control or rhythm, but it does. My opinion at this point is that when your confidence is high that you are doing the other three determinants correctly, it allows you to focus more attention on the speed and rhythm. Ideally, I believe, once you have aligned the putter correctly, all your attention should be focused on speed/distance/rhythm. However, this can be highly individualistic, as you might like to focus on path or a spot in front of the putter.

Technique for Practicing Slow Motion Putting

Training Tools Suggested:

A ball marked with a T-line
An Eye-Line putting alignment aid
Your putter
A coin – preferably a dime or a penny

I like using the Eye-Line aid because it has a built in mirror that insures you have your eyes directly over the target line as you practice and it has visual perpendicular lines to insure your face alignment is correct at address and impact. If you don’t have one and are practicing indoors, you can lay down a 1 foot bright piece of yarn on the carpet with a 6 inch piece intersecting it at the impact point. This will give you the alignment for your face angle.

Being obsessive about this, one of my favorite places to do a couple of quick slowMO drills is in the kitchen, using the large floor tiles as a T, sans a ball. When in the kitchen I just grab my putter and do some drills when the coffee is percolating or waiting for the kettle to steam. My wife calls me the best linoleum putter she has ever seen. Hmmm!

The Slow Motion Putting Drill

Place the ball down and put the coin about 2 inches (5 centimeters) in front of the ball directly on your target line
Set up with putter face alignment exactly perpendicular to target line.
Align the putter sweet spot with the T marked on your ball.
Hover the club in your hands, just above the line. Do not ground it. This helps keep your grip pressure light, reduces tension in your hands and forearms and reduces the tendency for start-up friction to fractionally move the face off line.
Look at the spot on the ball that you intend to strikewith the centerline of your putter (the sweet spot).
Take the putter back very slowly. I would start with 7-10 seconds to take it back 10 inches (25 centimeters).
Pause at the completion of the backswing and hold for 5 seconds. Track the putter with your peripheral vision. Do not watch the putter going back; maintain your focus on the ballimpact spot.
Return the putter face to the ball impact point in EXACTLY half the timeit took you to go back. If your backswing is 10 seconds, return to the ball in 5 seconds. Maintain this ratio of 2 to 1 always, as this is the ratio we see in the best putters whether they swing fast or slow. (By the way, I believe this might be the source of great rhythm in putting)
Hold for another 5 seconds at impact spot. Insure your face alignment is exactly the same as at set up.
Complete the putter movement by pushing the ball directly over the coin. Hold for 5 seconds more.
Repeat this drill AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN. Build skill circuits through repetition.

Remember, simplicity is crunched complexity. Pay close attention to the physical feedback you are getting from this drill. A little practice will noticeably improve your face alignment, your impact alignment, your eye line stability and your balance. Some specifics to observe and practice:

Be aware of your balance at set up and how it changes during the putt. Where is your weight and how is it distributed. Do your stance allow for optimum stability?
Feel and specifically identifythe muscles you use to initiate putter movement. Are you using small muscles in your hands and forearms or large muscles like your lats in your back and shoulders? Which muscles allow you to be more consistent and smooth? Once you identify the muscle(s), trigger every putt with the same stimulus to the same muscle(s).
Observe how your eyes track the putter head. Are you following the putter head back with your eyes and moving your head slightly? Your head (and body) will go where you eye look – always.
Watch for your eyes to move off the target line (inside or outside). What is your tendency?
Practice how to eliminate the excess movement. We find that the most common cause of excess movement is balance being off due to grounding the club at address, stance not stable or following the club back with your eyes. These will typically cause movement best eliminated.

Try this slow motion technique if you want to noticeably improve your PUTTING. Students tell me it has particularly improved their stats from inside 10 feet. Stay tuned and let me know how these techniques work for you.

About the Author: Dr. Ron Cruickshank lives outside Toronto in a 110-year old farmhouse with linoleum kitchen floors that are perfect for practicing slowmo putting. He recently opened the Moe Norman Golf School as part of our expansion program into Canada. Headquartered at The Royal Ashburn Golf Club in Whitby, a top 50 Canadian course, Ron is ready to help fellow Canadians looking for a winter tune-up. He can be reached at 647-892-4653.

SLOMO Practice!

January 24, 2011 by admin

By Dr. Ron Cruickshank, Golf Mind Coach & GGA Director, Canada

The word is out. Muscle memory doesn’t exist. It is a myth. The memory of your golf swing is actually stored as an electrical-chemical code in your brain within neurons. Your brain about 15 billion of these neurons, so no need to worry about getting overloaded with information or distinctions. The data on a neuron is connected to other neurons via connectors called dendrites. As you build skill, over thousands of repetitions, you build up a cluster of connected neurons. The communication pathway between dendrites is either strong or weak, depending on how much of a chemical – known as myelin – has been built up through repetition. The more myelin you have built up, the more reliable and faster the signals will be to your muscles. Experts have super highways between their neurons insuring a repeatable and accurate re-creation of the physical movement, again and again. As Moe Norman said. “I don’t know how to do it wrong.” This is a literal and true statement.

However, the same holds true for the hacker. If they have practiced the wrong movements for thousands of repetitions over many years, they have perfectly accomplished the skill of performing their ineffective swing over and over. When they try to make a change, they often find it difficult because it ‘doesn’t feel right’. As teachers, we know they are relating to an ineffectual model they have stored in their brain. In fact, when my student tells me it doesn’t ‘feel right’ my response is to tell them to celebrate because that means they are doing something different.

Building Myelin Skill Circuits Through SlowMo Practice

Among the most effective methods of building myelin paths is slow motion practice. The slow motion movement allows you to make accurate and correct movements and make minor adjustments and modifications that aren’t possible in a real-time regular tempo swing.

By now, most of you GGA members out there have heard the benefits of slow motion practice. Dan Coyle, in his book The Talent Code, wrote how most of the training centers he studied (in what he called “talent hotbeds”) around the world utilize this technique. Under the supervision of a trained observer (their coach) students practice their skill in slow motion, seeking to do so with perfect technique. This is true from a tennis hotbed in Russia to the Meadow Mount Music Center in New York that routinely turns out world-class musicians.

This is not a new practice to golf. A little research on U-Tube will reveal a 60-year old film of Ben Hogan in the seaside backyard of a friend demonstrating his full driver swing in an exquisitely choreographed slow motion ballet. He had obviously done this dance thousands of times, as each movement from approaching address to the completed forward swing was done elegantly with precision and balance. World-class experts have gravitated towards this technique because it works. I believe we can all learn from their affinity to this kind of practice.

Specific Technique for Slow Motion Practice

HOW TO PRACTICE FULL SWING SLOMO

When you begin to use this method, I suggest you start with your PVC pipe for practicing from Position O to Position 4 at impact. The PVC helps to insure you are precise in your moves and, in particular, the sense of a ‘one-piece’ move from Position O to l. Beyond position 4 you obviously will need to use a regular club or any training club you like. We have had good results from students using both the GGA Training Club and a weighted club.
It is useful to use the GGA Alignment Trainer. It ensures you are correctly lined up, have the correct stance width and proper distance from the ball with each club. Remember, the objective is to practice as perfectly as possible over many repetitions. At the minimum, use a club to make sure you are properly aligned.

PRACTICE TIP: Never trust your eyes when training; ensure exactness by taking as many variables out of the practice equation as are within your control.

Use the GGA positions because they break down the entire swing in manageable chunks and will help you focus on particular parts of the swing you wish to target and improve.
If possible, have a mirror face-on or DTL so you can check your positions.
Using the GGA positions as a reference, start from Position O and take a full TEN SECONDS to reach Position l. Concentrate on continuous smooth movementand notice any areas that seem bumpy or unsmooth. This is feedback and will continuously give you clues as to what needs to be done.
Continue through all the GGA Positions, taking a full TEN seconds between each position. At your finish (Position 6), maintain and hold your balance for an additional 5 seconds).
Once you have mastered the basic slow motion movement, I suggest beginning (in slow motion) from approximately three feet behind the ball as you would in an actual round. Notice where your eyes track, how you approach the ball, how you get your body ready to make the swing. Soon, this will become your routine and serve you well when it matters.

During your slow motion movement, pay attention to the feedback you are getting. Notice which muscles trigger your swing; observe what happens to your balance and your weight distribution during the swing. Where is the tension in your body and is it useful? If you practice this method diligently, I guarantee you will find useful new distinctions on a regular basis while simultaneously building those skill circuits.

An added benefit that everyone likes about slow motion practice is that you can do it anywhere and with no worry about hitting the living room coffee table. I regularly practice in my TV room amidst couch, a couple of easy chairs and the tube.

A caveat. This practice regimen requires focus and discipline. When done properly it takes over a minute to complete ONE slow motion swing. If you initially have difficulty, as is often reported, try 5 seconds between positions. As you get more skilled make the slow motion swing one continuous movement from start to finish and feel your confidence and consistency build.

I’ll close this blog with a new development in slow motion golf training. Most people think it is just for practicing your full power swing. Next blog, I will tell you about some new slow motion techniques I’ve been testing over the winter to noticeably improve your PUTTING. Stay tuned and let me know how these techniques work for you.

About the Author: Dr. Ron Cruickshank lives outside Toronto where he recently opened the Moe Norman Golf School as part of our expansion program into Canada. Headquartered at The Royal Ashburn Golf Club, a top 50 Canadian course, Ron is already dreaming about spring. He can be reached at 647-892-4653.

The Secret to More Willpower, Resolve, Determination and.…Blah,Blah,Blah!

January 20, 2011 by admin

Part 1 of a 2 Part Series

By Dr. Ron Cruickshank, Golf Mind Coach & GGA Director, Canada

This winter my personal focus has been on intelligent golf training (thousands of repetitions, building myelin skill circuits and constant video feedback) and getting physically fit for next year’s season. By getting fit, I mean losing weight and hitting the gym regularly as I work on being more flexible and stronger.

Sounds great, but then the cold shower of reality hit. Part A of my objectives has been easy as I work on my swing. I like it, love to do it, get great enjoyment from it, happy to see the improvement. However, Part B has been more challenging because I don’t really feel like dieting and getting to the gym in the Canadian cold has its drawbacks. Man, that’s a bummer. I think I’d rather side with Mae West when she said. “I generally avoid temptation, unless I can’t resist it.”

Given this situation, it dawned on me with the blinding glimpse of the obvious. What I need to meet my goals is MORE WILLPOWER. Bundles, Sacks and gallons of it would be good I thought.

Understanding The Nature of Willpower

This realization led to my standard behavioral scientist approach. I began to do a comprehensive literature search in my desire to more deeply understand the specific components of will-power, figuring I would then take that knowledge and turn it into a detailed strategy to get more of ‘it’.

As a behavioral scientist, I have studied motivation extensively over the years and have developed a comprehensive viewpoint about what it is and what conditions are necessary to provide it. However, in this case I wanted to look deeper and more specifically at willpower and understand what it is, how it gets developed, and how can we acquire it.

Guess what? Nobody really knows and the opinions are all over the board. In fact, you can find thousands of references to will power and the other related terms like resolve, drive, determination, grit, self-control, and firmness of purpose. But in the end, no one seems to have a definitive answer. Since we all seem to want it, this subject seems a challenge worth taking on, so I thought I’d develop my own take.

To begin, I’ll offer the following definition: Willpower is getting yourself to do something that you don’t emotionally feel like doing. The key to my definition is the linking of an action to a feeling. When we mentally want to do something but don’t take action (assuming we are able), then the reason is generally based on emotion. We represent it to ourselves consciously, as ‘I don’t feel like doing this’ and unconsciously as procrastination and manufactured excuses called reasons. The end result is the same; we fail to take action even when we are clear it is something we believe we ‘should’ do.

Commonly, this lack of action is perceived as a lack of willpower. The explanations for why we have this lack are varied. For some, willpower is viewed as a setup habits that you can build up like a muscle, continually getting stronger as it’s exercised and stretched. For others, willpower is seen as a limited resource: you only have so much in your willpower reservoir and after you’ve used your allotment there isn’t anymore. What is the truth?

After much reflection, I came to the conclusion that none of these perspectives are totally valid for most people. What leads to so much misunderstanding and confusion is our tendency to think about will power in a macro-perspective rather than micro. One is seen as having will power or not having it, as if will power was something one was capable of imposing on every aspect of their life like deploying a large net over a wild beast.

The truth is all of us have situations in our lives where we don’t initiate willpower or take action. It can be as varied as losing weight, hitting the gym, arriving at meetings on time, being firm with our children, getting a project finished or making that dreaded sales call where we risk rejection. Will power, or the lack of it, must be examined selectively and on a case-by-case basis in one’s life in order to figure out the path to gaining more.

My basic premise is that one can develop willpower to take action on anything you decide to. Under further scrutiny, I’ve realized that we all have lots of willpower. In fact, most of the people I know have tons of it. They get up each morning and go to work, fix the kids breakfast, get the laundry done, pay the bills, get through college and fit in a trip to church on Sunday when they would often rather sleep in. In other words, they demonstrate phenomenal willpower on a daily basis by taking action consistently regardless of their emotional state.

SEE NEXT BLOG: Part 2 – Dr. Ron’s Secret Technique for Developing Willpower

The Essence Game

January 8, 2011 by admin

By Dr. Ron Cruickshank, Golf Mind Coach & GGA Director, Canada

Technique: Play the Essence Game

In a recent blog I wrote about the Essence Game and defined true simplicity as the process of crunching complexity to the point that we can take action without losing elegance or functionality. True simplicity allows us to capture the essence of a subject while giving us increased understanding.

It turned out this idea resonated with people and I’ve had several requests to write more about this self-revealing game. The game is designed to stimulate your thinking about what is MOST important about any subject, mostly yourself, and to be a vehicle for sharing or discussing this insight with others.

Why Is Insight Important? The presupposition inherent in playing this game is that self-knowledge or insight is a valuable tool in managing ourselves, especially our emotional selves, and optimizing our performance when it counts. “But I already know myself”, you say. Well, maybe yes and maybe no.

Behavioral science research over the last decade has demonstrated that as individuals we are absolutely terrible at predicting our own reaction to a variety of life’s experience. In fact, it turns out that our friends and even casual acquaintances are much better at predicting our behavior than we are ourselves. It appears there is a significant gap between our self-image and the behaviors we will actually exhibit.

For example, we might like to think of ourselves as brave and ready to confront a dangerous situation with bravado. Yet, when the situation actually presents itself, we don’t act in accordance with our image. Unless the situation is dramatic or meaningful, we often, after the fact, ignore the behavioral choices we made and continue with our illusion that we truly know how we will act in a given situation. So, if you want to find out about yourself and others, try playing the following game around the dinner table or driving in the car.

How to Play The Essence Game

Tell your friends you want to play a little game to learn more about them. It is called the Essence Game. I find most people like being asked about their selves.
Ask each person – What is the ONE word that most clearly defines who you are? Alternately, you might ask what is the ONE word that best represents your world-view? If possible, ask them to write it down on a slip of paper so they won’t be swayed by anyone else’s comments.
Lead by example and tell the group your own word. The first time I did this exercise I came up with the word synthesizerto describe myself. I still use it.
Then, explain yourEssence word. In my case, I shared that I see myself as a gatherer and teacher of knowledge, and that I believed my talent was in synthesizing information and making links with other subjects in an innovative way. I also told them I thought this came out in my teaching and asked for their feedback. Was this true?
Poll the group one person at a time and have them share their word, and then ask them probing questions as to why they came up with this word to represent themselves. Watch the awareness develop.

The benefits of the game will quickly become apparent, as you will find that in the process of coming up with the ONE word you will crunch the complexity of whom you are down into the ESSENCE of who you are. Of course, this process causes you to generalize; but if you do this exercise thoughtfully you will find that the ONE word will be representative of a prevalent theme and value set in your life. This knowledge is valuable.

Next, ponder your word and ask the following questions:

How does this self-view impact my behavior?
If this is my strength, do I give myself the chance to use it as often as possible?
Does this cause me any problems in life that might require me to have more behavioral flexibility?
Does this self-view support my happiness? If not, why not?

Powerful and consistent performance is invariably linked to effective self-management. Whether you are managing your body (knowledge & technique into feeling), your mind (emotional maturity and self-management) or spirit (your relationship to the universe) you can benefit by understanding what makes you tick. Give this game a chance and pay attention!

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