Half Full or Half Empty?
Michael Anthony
The whole goal
of the mental game is to create a mental state that optimizes your brain's
chemistry, which in turn increases your ability to perform. If you have fear or
doubt that you can make a golf shot, you lower your chemistry and decrease your
chance of making a successful shot.
You can
transform your negative emotions into positive ones by creating a mind set that
your glass is always half full. You don't want to play with a glass that is
half empty. The liquid is in the middle of the glass, but there can be two
different emotions to the same fact. One is positive and one is negative. It is
up to you to decide if your glass is half full or half empty.
If you believe
that your glass is half full, you will have a higher level of chemistry than if
you believe that your glass is half empty. As simple as this concept sounds, it
can make the difference between making the shot or missing the shot because it
makes the difference between whether your chemistry is high or low.
The way you
create the mind set that your glass is always half full is to look at how your
probability of success influences your emotions on every golf shot you face. If
you have an easy shot, your glass is half full and you're confident that you
can make it. However, if it's a very difficult shot, many golfers think that
their glass is half empty and worry about missing the shot.
A way around
this up and down swing of emotions is to select only positive emotions when
looking at your probability of making the shot. Even if it's only one in a
hundred that you can pull the shot off, you have a choice of focusing on the
99% of not making the shot or the 1% of making the shot. Your only other choice
is to look for a safer shot if one is available.
If you decide
to go for it, you can raise your chemistry by focusing totally on the 1%
probability of making the shot and expecting to make it if everything goes
right. That's the key. You have to focus totally on expecting to make the shot
and not even think about the 99% probability of not making it.
If you train your tape that your glass is always half full, you will elevate your chemistry to a very high level. As a result you will make a lot more shots playing with a glass that is half full, instead of half empty. The nice thing about it is that it's your choice and it will reflect in your score.
Michael Anthony's Unique Mental Training Program, The Mental Keys to Improve Your Golf,
Guarantees to Lower Your Score by Improving Your Mental Game
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