Stop Practicing Mindlessly, Start Mindful Practice

How often do you catch yourself at the end of the day, when you have some quiet time thinking, "Wow, I literally just went through the entire day, what happened?" Or how about you interacted with a customer or guest? This has been me so many times. I wish I had been mindful years ago in high school and earlier in college about where my time was actually going and I wish I had been mindful about the quality of the interactions I was involved in. It was just not something that came to mind. I did not fully understand what it really meant to be mindful.

Mindfulness is actually extremely simple, but in today's fast-paced convenience economy, many do not pay a thought towards this.  Being mindful simply means you think before you speak and act. One takes in their surroundings, including who, what, where, when, and why or the "Five Ws".  

Doing the little things like this enables us and puts us in the right frame of mind to make clear decisions and really execute.  Engaging a guest when they arrive by offering a nice greeting goes a long way. I always try and audit myself during interaction with everyone I meet and communicate with to see how next time, I may handle the situation differently or the same. How I decide is simply based on the quality of the interaction that took place.

Literally in a nutshell, being mindful means to listen, observe, and learn with an open and objective mind. There is no need to let emotions take over and cloud, rather we learn from mistakes, plan on how to do better next time, and forget it. I have found when I really break down a day both good and bad, it allows me to realize how my day was used. Did I actually work smart and hard or did I just waste the day, practicing things they didn't help...

How does this relate to golf you ask? If we cannot be mindful in business, at home with our families, or out in public, how can we expect to be mindful when we practice and play golf?  Instead of mindlessly beating balls, raking one after another repeatedly, take a second and try and understand what caused a certain shot to happen. Work smarter, not harder.