Sergio Garcia had to change his mindset to finally win a major championship and don the Green Jacket at the 2017 Masters.
We can take a lesson from Sergio to adopt the correct mindset to achieve greatness in our businesses.
Sergio Garcia has been playing in major championships since 1996. Prior to his win at the Masters, he had played in 72 majors and although he had finished inside the top 10 on 22 occasions, including four runners-up, he could never get over the hump to win.
Who can forget the youthful, exuberance of the 19-year-old Garcia, as he carved a shot from behind a tree and dashed across the fairway to watch it run up on the green at the 1999 PGA Championship to finish runner-up to Tiger Woods.
Back then, he was a can’t-miss kid, sure to win majors by the bunches and follow in the footsteps of his idol and fellow countryman, the legendary, Seve Ballesteros.
70 majors and 17 years later, he still did not own a major championship trophy and was tagged with the dubious title of “Best Player to Have Never Won a Major.” A title professional golfers do not appreciate, to be sure.
The years, countless scars from near misses and the continual questions from the media about the drought, had placed added pressure on the Spaniard and caused him to doubt even himself.
The problem was, he did not have complete confidence in himself and would become upset at a bad bounce or poor shot and let those unfortunate circumstances lead to yet another loss.
Sergio started working with a mind coach and learned that he needed to accept the bad bounces on the golf course. He learned to concentrate on each shot at hand and perform his best in that moment. He could not allow past failure to dictate future performance. He had to learn to accept the past and strive to be better on the next shot.
Isn’t business the same?
Every day can be a constant battle with fellow employees, clients, vendors, missed shipments, higher prices, your competition and even COVID-19. If we allow these distractions to dictate our mood, we will become depressed and feel it is our fate to lose the next sale or not be successful in our business endeavor.
Like Sergio, business owners need to accept what has happened in the past and enact a plan to perform better in the future.
Attitude is something that can be changed. We cannot allow outside distractions or disappointments to affect our performance in our businesses.
Take a lesson from Sergio Garcia, accept business setbacks, learn from them and take a positive attitude into your next business meeting or presentation.
Maybe you will win that Major Client you have been trying to land for many years.
