Stoic Golf: No Pain, No Gain

No Pain, No Gain

I'm gearing up for my second round of the year in about an hour. The temperature is hovering around 45 degrees, but it feels more like 25. If you caught Edition #38, you'll know that my first round of the year didn't exactly go as planned. So, in search of some inspiration, I delved into some old quotes from this newsletter and stumbled upon this piece of Stoic wisdom.

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“How we choose to respond to struggle tells us about who we are as athletes and who we’ll be as people. Do we see it as a chance to learn and get stronger? Do we get frustrated and complain? Or worse, do we call it off and find an easier game to play, one that makes us feel good instead of challenged?"

-Ryan Holliday from The Daily Stoic (@RyanHoliday)

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Golf is probably the most mentally challenging sport there is. At some point in your round, you are going to struggle. How you respond to that struggle is what leads to finally breaking 100, 90, 80, or not.

Forget your last shot and make the best choice for the current situation. Don’t try to make up stokes. Sometimes we must accept that Par is probably not happening and Bogey would be a great result.

Accept the situation and choose the action.

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I’m going to do my best to channel this. Wish me luck and have a good weekend!