Don’t quit now, quit later.

I hate golf. The last time I played a lost 12 balls on 9-holes. Thankfully, I had a good eraser so I shot a 34 on the nine.

My office property line is shared with a golf course. All-day long I hear tee times being announced.  Daily, I get to watch people in ridiculous outfits and silly shoes spend hundreds of dollars to play a grown-up version of marbles. 

I doesn’t matter if you’re Tiger Woods or Adam Sandler, every hole-in-one is a lucky shot. You did it by chance not by intention. Sure, you tried your best but golf is not like math. Math is a sure thing if you do the right things - but golf is an attempt. You try to get as close to the pin as possible, and you HOPE you’re lucky enough to sink it.

One of these days, I might shoot a hole-in-one. If I succeed it will be because I continued to take shots. Persistence wins.

The more we practice the luckier we get. Continuing to try puts good luck on our pathway.  Skill gets us closer, but we need to increase attempts in order to increase the likelihood. (Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then.) If you’re successful it won’t be by chance. Effort and persistence helped you win. 

Young leaders sometimes say to me, “Oh. I’m not good at that.” But often, they just haven’t taken enough swings at it. One round doesn’t determine if you’re good at it. One round simply gets you closer to figuring it out.

If you wanna get better at something, do more of that thing! Sometimes the difference between an expert and a beginner is the number of tries.

Do you suck at administration? Try doing more of it.

Not a great communicator? Public speak more often.

Don’t like green peppers? Throw them to your salad and you might acquire a taste.

Are you a sub-standard blogger? Keep writing and writing, and use golf metaphors.

After doing a little more of it, you might discover that, yes, you do hate it and indeed suck at it. Or, you might discover you just weren’t good at first. It may become a skill. It may even become a passion!

Before you give up, try again and then again. Take another run at it. Don’t quit now, quit later.

Fore!

Ps. The Birkman Method has a POWERFUL metric that can help with this. It’s worth exploring when you’ve got some time. Connect and I’ll point you down the path… or down the green… or up the green. I’m not actually sure how greens work.