
Ben Hogan, a legend who had a massive impact on the game of golf said that, “Golf is not a game of good shots. It’s a game of bad shots.” Put another way, golf is not about how good your good shots are, its about how good your bad shots are.
Some of the “bad” shots I’ve seen some of the best players in the world hit would be pretty good in my book and I’m sure that some of the people I’ve played with would say the same about my “bad” shots.
The life principle here being that in our lives we have good days and bad days. The good days are amazing but these are the days that don’t bother us or get us down and disrupt our flow. Good days keep us inspired and hopeful. It’s the bad days that are the problem. It’s not that we’re not allowed to have bad days, it’s just that we need to get to a point in our lives where the fall out from a “bad” day is minimal. If I miss the target, I don’t miss it by a country mile. I’m a little left or right. Short or long. Or a combination of those.
As you work on yourself and grow, you become more intentional about how you approach life and people, you learn to reflect, gain perspective, forgive and ascribe positive meaning to events quickly, thereby minimizing the emotional, psychological and physical strain brought on by a bad day. If you’re really on top of your game, you might even find yourself being grateful for the lessons learnt during that “bad” day.
Two things are required to get to a place of ‘Good Bad Days’. Firstly, You need to check your fundamentals; are you being congruent? Congruent to yourself and others and the work you do. Are you remaining in a victor mindset? Are you implementing daily practices that enhance your inner conversation? Have you been having frequent conversations with people you trust about where you are at? Are you connected to your purpose? Secondly, you need to, in the midst of the “bad” day and the not-so-great results that accompany it, be able to observe yourself and the day with a curiosity that enables you to learn from it. Sometimes surviving a bad is a good result but I’d inspire you to aim higher and make sure that when you do miss, that you make sure you learn something from it.
If the above has fallen short of inspiring you to become a person who has the ability to have Good Bad Days then perhaps this final perspective will help;
Some people in this world would give anything to have your “bad” day. Someone is always praying for the things you already have.
My hope and prayer for you is that the next time you have a bad day, it’s at least a Good Bad Day.
Own your journey.
Coach Cam