The game of golf teaches us many life lessons. Last week I played one of the best rounds I have ever played. I shot two back to back birdies, a par and had one of my longest drives ever. At the end of the 18 holes, I was one stroke over my goal because I did not play the last two holes well.
As any golfer knows you can have your best and worst shots during the same round. It is what keeps you coming back.
That said, at the end of the day, I initially focused on my mistakes from the last two holes rather than on the earlier holes that had me doing the happy dance. I realized this was taking away from the joy of the game and what I had accomplished.
So often we focus on what is lacking or where we messed up. We lose sight of what went well or the accomplishment or progress made. Of course there is value in debriefing mistakes and learning from them. That is how we improve.
It is the over-focus on the error, one bad evaluation among many, one poor comment we said in the interview or the few bad shots in a game of many that can cause us to lose perspective, confidence and joy.
Being aware of where you choose to focus and your ability to shift will impact how you score in the game of life.