We played golf today at Ko'olau, which is billed as the "World's Most Challenging Golf Course." While that may be a little hype, it is one of the toughest I have even played. Two lessons for entrepreneurs came to mind with our round.
Focus. Ko'olau is right next to the mountains. There is jungle along every fairway, and many sand bunkers in key places. Many holes have you hitting over jungle to get to the fairway. If I wasn't careful I found myself thinking a shot or two ahead, or thinking about everything around me and not about what I needed to do to execute my shot.
But, I found that when I blocked out the beauty, the danger, the hazards, and just focused on each shot, I did alright. I hit some great shots that sailed over the jungle and landed where they should. Then I went to the ball and made my next shot.
Focus on one shot at a time. Don't think ahead.
So, too, as entrepreneurs we need to learn to block out that which would distract us. We get excited by all the opportunities that we see out there and start thinking about what to do next. Many entrepreneurs jump too soon to the next deal before the current business they are just getting going is even stable.
Focus on one shot at a time. Don't think ahead.
Set Realistic Goals and Stay Within Your Limits. My son Russ and I both went at this course with the understanding that we would likely score quite high. We set out to keep our scores in our normal range, and played our games to reach this goal. We did not try to shoot a very low score, as that was just not realistic on this course under the conditions we played in.
As entrepreneurs we need to set realistic goals. Don't try to turn a nice business into something bigger than it is or bigger than it ever realistically can become. Understand what the business can give back to you and work hard to reach that goal.
I am not saying that we should never challenge ourselves and reach for a goal that may seem hard to achieve. However, we can try too hard.
In golf you should never try to swing too hard. If you do, you usually don't hit it very well. If you swing smooth and easy the ball will almost always go farther and straighter. Do the same in your business. Know your limits and do the best within those limits. Over time, this will lead to more successes.
By the way, by setting a realistic goal today and playing within our limits, we both shot within our typical range of scores on this quite demanding golf course.
