I always find it crazy to think how this weird game where you chase a little white ball around a massive field trying to hit it into a tiny cup from hundreds of yards away has played such a drastic role in my life and so many others.

Golf gave me my first job as a caddy. Was a large factor in the college I picked. Kickstarted my career leading to the work I do today. Introduced me to countless lifelong friendships. Gave me the opportunity to travel. And so much more.

And if that wasn’t enough, it also has this uncanny ability to teach me a lot of worthwhile lessons along the way.

Here are a few that substantially changed the way I look at work and life on a day-to-day basis. And at the very least, by the end of this, you can start telling yourself that being on the golf course is good for business.

Visualize, execute, repeat

When I think about visualizing and golf, my mind immediately goes to Jason Day. At his peak, the man would stand behind the ball, shut his eyes, and imagine the shape and trajectory of the shot. Then he would approach the ball and let his body execute what he saw with his mind’s eye to perfection.

During those glorious rounds when my game is firing on all cylinders, I find that my visualization process is doing its best impression of Day’s strenuous mental routine.

I stand behind the ball, see each shot I want to hit, and for some reason, my body just agrees with my mind that day and decides to do as it is told.

My best rounds are a simple recipe. See the shot. Execute the shot. Repeat on the next one.

The same can be said for my career and business.

I am a massive proponent of writing down goals. And even more so in taking the time to just sit and visualize them coming to fruition.

Seeing that idea come to life in my mind gives me an insane amount of energy. It motivates me more than anything else to execute all of those small, less exciting tasks that latter up into a goal becoming a reality.

Visualize. Execute. Repeat. One-shot at a time. One day at a time.

Speaking of one shot at a time, learn to be present and love the process of executing

We’ve all done it.

You’re walking off the driving range and you just had the warm-up session of your life. The driver never felt so good. Your short game is usually your weak spot but you chipped a few in on the practice green. And to top it off, the putter was in a can’t miss zone.

“This is my day” you start to think to yourself.

You get to the first tee. It’s a short par four followed by a reachable par five. You start planning it out in your head.

“If I hit it in the fairway here I can birdie the first and the short par five is a guaranteed four. This will be the best start I’ve ever had.”

You take back the driver filled with confidence only to hook it into the trees.

In an attempt to save your dream round, you try pulling off a stinger under a branch that you have no right hitting. The ball smacks into the tree ricocheting back fifty yards into a worst position.

You make triple bogey.

You’re so angry that you messed up your golden opportunity for a personal record that you overextend yourself on the next hole in an attempt to recover.

You make double bogey. You’re enraged. The day is ruined.

This type of thinking is a foolish endeavor and one I used to find myself in often.

You can’t control the end result, only the situation in front of you. So enjoy the sublime process of hitting a shot.

Better yet, get lost in it.

Forget about the results entirely and relish in the fact that you are lucky enough to be outside on a beautiful golf course playing this great game.

Unsurprisingly enough, you will play better than ever and have more fun along the way.

This breakthrough in my golf game started to bleed into my career and how I approached each day.

In business, I would tie my success and day-to-day enjoyment to accomplishments alone. All I would think about is the end result, and I would put myself through anything to achieve them.

This approach would quickly lead to burnouts, unhealthy habitats, and sleepless nights stressing out about all that needed to be done to reach that goal.

So I decided to flip the script, recalibrating my approach to business so it closely resembled my newfound presence on the golf course.

Instead of working for the accomplishment, I started working for that day alone. I challenged myself to surrender the end result entirely and get lost in the exciting daily process of creating the life I visualized.

Just like in golf, the mindset shift changed everything. By making my entire focus on appreciating the micro, the macro handled itself and my life and work became a lot better for it.

That’s It

A few takeaways from this great game that can enhance your life in a dramatic fashion.

Visualize the shot. Get lost in the execution of the shot. And have fun doing it. If you don’t, then what’s the point of all this anyway?