So unfortunately, I have to pay for golf somehow (plus all that other stuff modern life requires) and that means work. Fortunately, I have a job I like fairly well. I’m an organizational development specialist, working in my company to develop people through onboarding, training, and the like. A good side effect of this is that I see a lot of connections with the things I talk about at work with key parts of the mental side of golf. Perhaps the most important of all of these is a growth mindset.
We all want to get better and with golf especially, that is a task with no finish line. Without realizing it though, we can slip into a mindset that slows down, or even prevents us from improving (or recognizing improvement), leading to decreased joy and motivation. This mindset is a fixed mindset where on some level we have decided something about ourselves is set in stone and can’t be changed. With golf, we might have a fixed mindset about our overall skill level or just parts of the game. With a fixed mindset, we tend to try to avoid challenges because we are already certain we’re going to fail, we give up more easily when faced with obstacles, and we feel threatened or envious of the success of others.
A growth mindset, on the other hand, is a belief that we can improve at whatever we are doing. We may not get to perfect (and that’s not the intent), but improvement is always possible and something to be valued. We can better embrace challenges as a chance for improvement and that recognition of growth pushes us through obstacles. We can also see the growth in others as a source of inspiration and something to be valued.
Something I’ve found in my work and golf is that many people say they want or have a “growth mindset” about things, but then aren’t really putting it into practice. Where I see this most is with goal-setting. Goals are great and give us useful benchmarks for measuring growth, but too often (ESPECIALLY in golf), I see folks approaching their goals with too much of a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset goal tends to be result focused, proving you CAN do something and HAVE the ability. The easiest example of this in golf is goals based around score. Breaking a certain score barrier is a major milestone and is something to celebrate, however I don’t believe making this the only (or even the primary) goal is beneficial and may even be harmful to you actually reaching it. Simply saying “I will break 80” as a goal makes us focused on the result, proving we can do it, but then each time it doesn’t happen, we’re putting evidence in our brain that we can’t do it. As this evidence builds up, we can easily get demotivated and then find ourselves in a place where we say “I can’t do it” and that is something easy to get stuck in.
Growth mindset based goals will focus on the process, not the result. It allows us to look at things we’re not good at and add “yet” to the end. “I’m not good at chipping…yet” leaving the space in our brain open for improvement. These process goals should be incremental and allow us to see and celebrate progress. They can have a number tied to them that stretches us, but we need to be okay with not hitting that number and still value the growth. For example, I may want to increase my greens in regulation. What part of that process do I control? Club selection. I can set a goal for the round to select the correct club for the center-back yardage number on every approach shot. I might slip on one and that’s okay. Will it increase my greens in regulation? Maybe yes, maybe no. Even if it doesn’t, since I focused on the process (club selection) and not the result (G.I.R.), I can value the growth and improvement, motivated to keep going.
This is a topic I could go on and on about, so I’ll cut it off here. So how about you? Are you approaching golf/life with a growth mindset? What sort of process-based goals will you make for your game?
Interesting post. I set a goal earlier this year to drop 3 shots off my handicap. I set out a plan and was going great until we got locked down in the UK and courses closed. The restrictions eased but practice grounds remained closed and I found myself playing too much social golf and not practicing. By concentrating my practice on different parts of the game and improving my processes I believe that ultimately the outcome goal will look after itself.
That’s a really essential point. Result focused goals may seem like they’re working fine until something happens that shows we don’t really control that result or at least everything related to it, COVID closing courses and practice areas being an extreme example. Process based goals tend to have more flexibility and can adapt faster to change.
I think having the openness of a growth mindset is going to be a benefit in golf and in your work/personal life, but I don’t think it should keep you from setting firm goals. As a teacher (HS Physics) I want my students to be able to set an achievable goal AND be able to appreciate the process through a growth mindset.
I’ve tried, with bumps along the way, to apply this to my golf this summer. I created a fixed goal (break 90) but went about it with an openness to change and failure. I focused on things like consistent ball-striking, hitting a consistent shot shape, and having a pre-shot routine. If I missed a green or fairway or putt, but followed my routine, struck it well, and had the shape I wanted, the I mentally accepted it as a successful shot. By the end of the summer, I have been breaking 90 consistently and have knocked on 80 a couple of times.
I guess what I’m getting at is that it’s helpful to do both. It’s super satisfying and rewarding to see those fixed goals topple; the process-oriented goals allow that to happen. The key, for me anyways, is for the fixed goal to be long-term and achievable. It’s easy in golf to overestimate what achievable is. So set goals that seem reasonable: never broken 100? that can be a goal; break 100 but not 90? there’s a goal; 80…single digits handicap…par…etc.
Celebrate milestones, but enjoy the process.
Great points, I think it becomes easy at this point to fall into a semantics trap of “Goals” vs “Objectives”. Personally I think of that firm, fixed place I want to get as an Objective. I definitely influence the path I take to get there, but the arrival is not entirely in my control. I assign the word “goals” measuring the improvement in things I do directly control.
TL:DR-Have goals AND objectives, regardless of the words you use for them. 
Mental: Relaxing, reminding myself the only shot that counts is THIS one. Noting improved shots and practicing to replicate them. One good thing about being a senior beginner, is realizing growth is possible, and ANY round on the golf course is more interesting than a day cooped up indoors! It’s a game to enjoy.
If I want to put this directly into the organizational language I use in my work, it would be objectives-key results-and initiatives
The objective is where we want to go, so for golf maybe that is breaking 80. The key results are the lag indicator measures that show we’re progressing towards that objective, like hitting more greens in regulation. The initiatives are the process based “goals” we commit to influencing those key results, in this case club selection. For those who prefer a more systematic approach to things, this can be a really effective way to think about it while still having a growth mindset.
I’ve been trying to take the business approach to golf as well. I’d love to drop my handicap by about 5 strokes but I think focusing on scores/outcomes can be counterproductive so I set KPIs for myself that should ultimately translate to better scores. This summer has been all about wedge play and I’m always excited when I have a wedge shot to the hole where I get to record a wedge shot (eg land within 5% of target). Same with putting inside 10’ (X% success) Sure I’d love to have a great score where I’d drive it perfect, putt perfect, etc. but I think if you set up some sub-goals, regardless of the box score, you feel like each shot you are making progress to the greater goal
Good plan! It’s always a tough mental hurdle to get over, accepting you don’t fully control the result and therefor need to focus on the things that influence the result.