A golf ball on a tee | Photo by Will Porada
Life is a game of golf. We swing and then hit or miss as we try to pursue an opportunity that sits in front of us. But hey! We still aim to acquire skill and hit it to start rolling the ball to a goal.
Philip Ripley Ward’s Golf Is Not What You Think: The Finishing Touch is a book that depicts the life work of the author, an independent golf specialist. Philip Ripley Ward has learned a lot from his experience that his book does not only function as an instructional manual. He shares his life story with an engaging twist through humorous anecdotes and life advice. Life is a game of golf, and in this book, Philip Ripley Ward is a mentor.
Life and golf have their similarities. Yeah, when you are inexperienced about the game, you try to swing your club and then miss sometimes. And then you hear people behind you mumble words, making you ask yourself whether you swung it like a perfect angel or a dork that needs a little more practice because it’s still an awful long way to go. Life, as we know it, is a comedian or a clown that may make fun of you in front of your friends even if you tried hard to practice and hit the goals you wanted to achieve. Thus, life is a game of golf.
So, what makes life so similar to this game? Let’s find out!
It is a Game of Hits, Misses, and a lot of Prayers
Have you ever looked forward to an opportunity and tried your best to get it but missed it big time? Yeah, you will experience that in golf. In the game, a player will swing the club to hit the ball on a tee and let it fly across the course to a certain goal – a hole, also known as “the cup.”
In golf, your goal is to sink the ball in the hole with the fewest number of strokes. Familiar? In life, we tend to try to achieve things as quickly as we can. Have you noticed? Achievers in life right now become younger and younger. Sometimes, you just wonder if there was a manual about life to review. And yes, hitting on opportunities involves a lot of prayers. So, when you swing that club and hit the ball, you pray that you will achieve your list of goals in the game.
You Play with Failure Shoulder-to-Shoulder
Failure. The monster that haunts your being as you try to grow and be better at golf and life. Learning new things does not always come automatically. Sometimes, you need a lot of experience. And by experience, you need failures. Life is a game of golf, which means you need to acquire more skills by trying new stuff. It is a game of trial and error. Yes, failures can make you cry or feel angry. However, a more focused individual will have takeaways from the experience and apply the learning to life.
A man in red swinging a golf club to hit a ball | Photo by Courtney Cook
Luck, Skill, and Answered Prayers
With so many failures encountered, sometimes, when you achieve a goal, you ask yourself, “Was it luck? Was it skill? Was it an answered prayer?” Of course, if you think of yourself as a loser, you will not have a lot of faith in yourself. Here’s what happened. Basically, your failures made you focus on an angle, making you practice more. As you practice and practice, you acquire the proper skill in dealing with a dilemma. Because life is a game of golf, your swing will actually hit the ball with the proper power and trajectory.
Asking for Advice Equals Maturity
Life and golf are two similar things. Both would require a person to ask advice from a mentor for a better result. Yes. If you ever had a time playing with the course in golf, you should have asked for advice from the pros on how you can be a better player. In life, it is the same. When you are trying to achieve a goal, a mentorship should allow you to see the world differently as you learn more from a more experienced person. The only thing that separates you from the mentor and their advice is the shame of asking them in the first place. You need to lower down defenses or pride in order to be better at playing the game and learn from the ones who are good at it.
Fear — Your fRiEnD
When you are already focused on hitting the ball with the right force and the right angle, you will sometimes hear your “friend” whispering words that may leave you doubtful about your capabilities. When we listen to it, we get to fail to hit a goal. Fear will always provide negative or bad results. Sometimes, we get paralyzed or make bad decisions when dealing with the game. Still, life is a game of golf.
Self-Awareness
One attribute that allows you to win golf is self-awareness. Since life is a game of golf, you can actually focus on yourself first when you want to achieve goals in life. With this, you will know how to control your trajectory and be better at what you are doing.
You can always grab a copy of Philip Ripley Ward’s Golf is Not What You Think to learn more about playing golf and get engaged in the life of a seasoned player.
Life is a game of golf. In order to win it, you have to get to know your field and paraphernalia to finally achieve your goals. Life and golf have close similarities that can help people grow and become better individuals.
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