Did I WIN? - Focus on the Process

Hi, and welcome to Philosopher Insights. My name is Herb Lamba.  Today I wanted to share an insight from, 'With Winning in Mind,' by Lanny Bassham. Now Lanny Bassham is a phenomenal author, a phenomenal writer with a phenomenal backstory, but I wanna share one story that he shares in this book about one of his clients,  Ben Crane, a PGA golfer who had been struggling and had never won on the PGA Tour.

 He tells this story about his coaching with Ben and he told him, look,  going into that final round. I want you to just focus on the process, focus on the fluidity of your swing, focus on some basic fundamentals, and forget about the final outcome.  Ben did this brilliantly, so brilliantly that he was on the 18th hole with a 30-foot putt, but unbeknownst to him that 30-foot putt was worth almost $1 million because that 30-foot putt was for the win.

He makes that 30-foot putt, his playing partner takes off his hat, shakes his hand, but that's just customary in golf, anyway - so at that point, Ben still didn't realize he had won the tournament. He only realizes that he, won when his wife comes running onto the green and gives him a hug and he looks at her and he says, 'DID I WIN?'

 I love this story because there's such an important message here. You can apply this to your day-to-day or to your goals or to anything that you're doing in life. At the end of every day, I could go through the process that I set out for myself and I can ask myself, 'DID I WIN?' I could do that for a month.  At the end of the month, I could look up and say, did I win? I can do that after a year, I can do that after five years of following the process, not being so focused on the outcome, and then look up and say, 'DID I WIN?'

I love that question. I love this book and I love Lanny Bassham.

You've been listening to Philosopher Insights. My name's Herb Lamba, we'll talk soon. Have a great day!