Trying something new is exhilarating, terrifying, and, if you’re lucky, completely addictive. I’ve rediscovered this feeling as I’ve been taking some golf lessons over the last couple of weeks. My emotional journey is taking me through all zones from excitement to self-doubt, denial, and a feeling of being eager for more. And that can all be in a space of 5 minutes!!​
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Walking onto the course for the first time, I felt a surge of optimism. Golf has always been played by members of my family and I thought it would be lovely to have a game with some of them, but now, standing with a club in hand, I wondered if I was doing the right thing. The thought of swinging wildly and missing entirely loomed large in my mind. What if I was useless at this? What if I embarrassed myself? And, more importantly, would my back cooperate? (Did you notice how that negative self-talk was out in force??)​
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The first half hour was painful! I felt very wooden, had a few fresh airs, and some swings that barely made contact! However, with each swing, I started to notice what a good one felt like as opposed to a crappy one, and by the end of the first lesson, I was no longer worried about failure – I just wanted to practice more and looked forward to the next lesson.​
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If this is going to be one of my new hobbies, I’m going to have to put into practice everything I preach. Self-talk will need working on, so will my patience as I can feel myself getting a tad frustrated when the ball disappears into the long grass time after time. Speaking to some of you seasoned golfers, I know that I will have good days and days where nothing seems to work. Learning from my mistakes is just part of the process. ​
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I’ve put off trying golf for a long time, but I have to say, I’m not sure why. Perhaps because I had it in my mind that I needed a lot of time to be able to do it properly. However, I’m enjoying practicing my chipping technique in the garden and in some ways being a good observer of myself.​
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Something I remember from studying managing change is that even when we are changing to do something that we want to do, we’ll still have moments of self-doubt – it’s pushing through and feeling so much better when we do. ​
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What have you procrastinated doing lately and then found out when you started to do it, that you actually enjoyed it?