What I Learned from Phil Mickelson: Applications on Change

Thanks for your challenge Robert. I’d hate to see you flee in seven directions because my thinking was that we’ve found a middle zone where the flow of ideas between us (and many others) will allow both of us (and many others) to live epic lives. So, in the spirit of engaging, participating, interacting and creating new concepts that will allow us to find flow in life, let me relate the lessons from my post, What I Learned from Phil Mickelson at the Deutsche Bank Championship, to this month’s topic of CHANGE.

Lessons on Change – The Application Phase

Lesson 1: Inch by Inch it’s a Cinch

Application: Change Happens in Phases or Stages

There are no short-cuts to profitable change. You have to go through the process. Going through the process means being strategic with your change plan. Change is incremental. Once you do what’s necessary at one level, you will naturally progress to the next level, building on what you had done at the lower level. Life is about constantly changing because what works at one level will not work at the next level. Old ways of doing things must be shed and new ways developed.

Lesson 2: Play Your Own Game

Application: Change Should Be Based on Personal Goals

You cannot base the changes you are making in your personal life on how other people are living their lives. You have to make a conscious decision that you will be motivated by your own personal goals. The difference between a winner and an also-ran is that the winner stuck to a pre-determined game plan. You can’t allow other people to interfere with your growth because life is not a competition. It’s about reaching your own personal potential.

Lesson 3: Don’t Be Intimidated

Application: Change Should Be Rewarding, Not Traumatic

Profitable change always brings joy, expansion and advancement with it, not trauma. Nothing hurts when you are winning because you made all the right decisions. Granted, there must be some pain in order to experience gain. However, the pain should not be traumatic. Traumatic change leads to a freezing of the attitudes which, in essence, stalls continued growth. The key to not being intimidated is to stay systematic in your pursuit of growth.
 
Lesson 4: Believe in Your Dreams

Application: Don’t Be Resistant to Change

In the original post I quoted Norman Vincent Peale, who said,  “You can if you think you can”. The application phase of the lesson from Phil here is this: ‘You are canned if you can’t!’ You have to realize that if you are resistant to the changes that you need to make, you will be frozen in that stage of life. Not believing in your dreams is tantamount to accepting the status quo. Being resistant to change is like being a river that stagnates. Pretty soon that water will become murky and start to stink. Don’t allow yourself to be canned. Be open to change.   

Lesson 5: Give Yourself the Best Chance

Application: Have a Strategy for Continous Change

Continuous change in life is maintained through a two-prong strategy: a). Increasing the driving forces towards change in your personal life, and b). Reducing the decelerating forces that stall the change process. In order to do this you must constantly refine and polish a solid vision for life as you resist the temptation to be complacent and live a life of ease. Vision allows you to consistently grow and expand your capabilities. Ease prevents you from embracing new possibilities. Having a strategy for continous change is essential in order to live an epic life and experience flow daily. For a strategy that you can use, please read my post, PLAN AHEAD: The Key to Organization.