Golf is an individual sport, one of the few sports that reflect solely on the individuals own performance. The outcome of a round is not determined on how well ones competitor played against them, and there is nothing a competitor can do physically to keep them from playing their best. This forces golfers to take full responsibility for whatever happens to them on the golf course, and they have nothing or no one to blame for poor play but themselves.
The weather can be an excuse that is used by golfers. It is true that playing in weather such as wind, cold temperatures, or rain can make conditions harder, but everyone is basically playing in the same conditions. However, it is unlikely to hear an excuse about weather from a professional golfer. The best golfers understand that they are the ones responsible for every decision and every swing that is made on the golf course. They understand that when the conditions are bad, they have to adjust their expectations of what a good round is. It is very likely to hear a player say, “I played great” when they shot 76, and the next day the same player say, “I did not play so well” after shooting 73. The best players know that the number on their scorecard does not always reflect how they played, but golfers who do not take responsibility for how they played, often find an excuse for why they performed the way they did.
In many sports, players can come up with many excuses for why they lost. These excuses can range from; “the referee made bad calls that favored the other team” or “the other players were cheating.” While some of these excuses at times may be true, what happens is that it takes the responsibility off the player and shifts any blame for their performance onto something or someone else. This can result in a person who can no longer take responsibility for their own actions and blame others for their imperfections or failures. In order to improve and become a better golfer, they must be able to acknowledge their own weaknesses in order to grow and improve on them. Taking responsibility for ones actions on the golf course, will lead to taking responsibility for anything that happens to them off the course.
Taking responsibility for what happens on the golf course is one of the first things a golfer can do to improve their game. This is because it opens the golfer’s eyes to what they really need to work on. If they were to blame every bad tee shot on their driver, and continue to buy a new one in search of finding a driver that goes straight, they have no chance of becoming a better player. That does not mean a club is never the problem, but before going out to purchase a new one, the golfer must first analyze why they are hitting the ball the way they are. If after analyzing this, and find it is not the club and it’s their swing, they can begin to work on the real issue of their game. By acknowledging that they were the problem and not their equipment, they will be able to see better tee shots, which will result in lower scores.
If a player does not take responsibility, they will not progress as a golfer. If the golfer thought it was their driver that was the problem and not their swing, they would have spent a lot of money on new clubs, and wasted a lot of time that could have been used toward working on the real issue. Unfortunately, anyone who works in the golf business or plays much golf knows someone just like this. They are constantly trading in their clubs for new ones in hopes of improving their game. Everyone around the individual knows the real problem is not their clubs but it is their swing, but the player does not want to face that fact. Chances are they will continue on this path, and never improve to become the type of player they want to be.
Taking full responsibility for ones actions in their personal life can lead to greater success just as it does in golf. This does not mean always taking the blame for things when something goes wrong, but learn to analyze the situation without bias and after analyzing it, if they realize it was their fault not hiding it or blaming someone else. By owning up to one’s mistakes it will only help them discover their weaknesses, and they can learn from it. If an individual were to never take responsibility, they won’t realize it is something they should work on. Often times, the individuals who constantly face the same problems, are the ones who refuse to acknowledge they need to work on them. It is just like the saying “those who don’t study history, our doomed to repeat it”. That saying is true for history as much as it is for our weaknesses.
Those who refuse to accept responsibility not only stunt their growth mentally, but are often very hard to get along with. To them it seems that everyone is always against them. For example, if they have a problem with being on time, they most likely will have an excuse such as, “my clock was off”, “I got here as soon as I could”, or the common “traffic was bad”. When someone is constantly showing up late, being asked the question, “why are you late” becomes a consistently nagging question to them. Because they are constantly asked this question, they feel people are always against them. However, it is due to them refusing to take responsibility for their actions that they continue to make the same mistakes.
Admitting when something is one’s fault is not a sign of weakness. Some may see it as a weakness, but in fact it is really a sign of strength because they are willing to accept whatever it is they did. Consequently, the more one owns up to their mistakes the less they end up having to do it in the future. This is because by admitting their weaknesses it allows them to work on them. This results in fewer mistakes in the future, which is why they will face fewer situations where they are wrong. These individuals are much less stressed because they do not constantly have to defend themselves over things they did wrong. As a result, these people are much easier to get along with, happier, and live healthier lives.