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New Release
The Fairway Of Life
Simple Secrets To Playing Better Golf By Going With The Flow ~
Rand Scott Marquardt
Life & Mental Golf Performance Coach 
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What are your dreams and intention for your golf this season and beyond? What are you expecting?
I am inviting you to get really clear about what you want. I am inviting you to get really clear about playing full out 100%, making the commitment, and taking action - one action step at a time. What action step can you take today, this week? It all begins with a thought and we always get what we expect. Reach for the best feeling thought.
Remember this: the one who wins is always the one who is clearest about their wanting and is most expectant of it.
Once you make that commitment to play full out The Universe will open up new perspectives, Providence will move through you, and the how’s will begin showing up. You will just know. There is no better feeling in golf or life when everything Clicks. And for me, it clicks a lot more than ever before. Why? Because I align with myself and allow it in. Because it’s my expectation…which always delivers a match to what I expect.
It’s how I became a low single digit handicap.
What are you expecting this year?
Clicking along…
Focus Upon What You Prefer
Most people fall into the trap of telling it like it is or thinking it’s just the way it is. Most people will say give me what I want then I’ll be happy. I’m inviting you to be happy and you will do and have what you have wanted all along. Most people keep thinking the same ole thoughts and keep getting the same ole results. If you think what you have always thought you will get what you have always gotten. Most people live within this ‘bubble” of limited belief thinking. Most people want to tell the truth because that’s what they see. They think telling it like it is has something to do with their reality. Most people want to see it first to believe it. They say if you show me what I want, then I’ll believe it. I’m inviting you to shift your thinking to believe it and you will see it. I’m inviting you to shift your thinking upon being the powerful creator that you really are…that life really is happening through you – not to you.
What most people suffer from the insidious disease of limited beliefs, negative thinking, and other foolish self-sabotaging behaviors on the golf course and in all aspects of life. I’ve experienced all of them. After 36 years of living within this subconscious ingrained self-image of negativity, limited beliefs, and certainly plenty of foolish self-sabotaging behaviors, I’ve decided to do something about it. I’ve decided to apply The Secret or The Law of Attraction or what I call the universal life and spiritual principles to the game of golf and to the game of life…and I want you to know that it works. I’m inviting you to trust in the process and let it be. I’m inviting you to get back into the game as it really is designed to be by following your bliss.
I’m inviting you to focus upon what you prefer, focus upon what you want, focus upon the solution, focus upon your dreams and desires…set a powerful intention upon what you want and you’ll gravitate toward the new and exciting picture you are painting. And if your dreams don’t scare you, then they’re not big enough!
I’m inviting you to shift your thinking upon what feels good as you dream, as you set the intention, as you hold the vision of what you want. Are you living your dream and filled with joy along The Fairway of Life? If not, then shift your thinking and align with the Well-Being…simple allow it in. Ultimate success is absolutely the amount of joy that you feel.
· Getting angry – shift your attention to gratitude and it’s a beautiful day
· Frustrated – shift your attention to allowing the Well-Being in
· Fearful – shift your attention by acknowledging it then back to the present
· Thinking you can’t – shift your attention to visualizing upon what you want
In life as in golf, we are either allowing the Well-Being in or we are resisting it. Our work becomes removing the obstacles that lie in the way. “Removing the clouds does not cause the sun to shine, it merely reveals what was hidden all along,” Dr. David R. Hawkins. There is no way to The Zone…The Zone is the way. The Zone is our natural way to be…it is always flowing to and through us.
How To Change The Things I Want To Change
The Serenity Prayer – “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference,” Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr.
First, you must understand which of these three life principles fit your situation. You must ask yourself with sincere honesty if you have control over the only corner of the universe you can control – yourself. If you can change, then welcome courage into your life. It takes courage to step outside the confines of your own self-induced comfort zone. Yes, growth can be and usually is messy. With ease and grace you can move through what at times may seem like the valley of death or the roar of the lion.
The simplest and most direct method to change is acknowledged and felt within the concept of the Nike slogan…Just Do It! It is called having heart and desire; a one-minded focus and a definiteness of purpose; having a dream, and keeping on! Others would say never give up. I prefer keeping on keeping on. Always reminding your self to keep on.
Sometimes your dream may feel like a million miles away just a day or two before it actually manifests. Very often you are less than 3 feet from gold. Keep digging…keep on moving forward. Keeping on in the direction of your hearts desire is what really makes our heart sing. Just remember who you really are – a brilliant and magnificent human being…a spiritual being living a physical existence…a leading edge extension of Source Energy. It’s about feeling worthy, because you are born worthy. It’s about feeling deserving, because you are born deserving. It’s about being born of pure love and pure joy, because you are pure love and pure joy.
Love is all there is. I’m just reminding you until you remember. It’s our dance-with-life to be in vibrational harmony with this understanding…believing in our selves, loving our selves, allowing the Well-Being in, feeling outrageous joy, and knowing it! Jack Nicklaus and other great champions knew in their minds they would hit a great shot before they actually did it. You can too! It’s called being in The Zone – pure positive energy going with the flow ~. Our work therefore is to keep on reaching for more of these good feeling thoughts – the best feeling thoughts we can at this moment in time. Allow the spiral to move us upward ever enhancing more and more of the good stuff that life is serving up. Pretty soon we end resonating in these good feeling spaces more often than not. And when we’re a tad off we can embrace it that much better than before.
If by chance you’re feeling stuck, confused, upset, angry, disconnected, out of alignment, frustration and if by chance you’re “…repeating the same behaviors over and over again expecting different results,” Einstein’s definition of insanity, then you’ve got to change the way you think. Thinking about always choking, always getting nervous over an “important” putt, that you’re never going to get any better, that the demons or golf gods are getting the best of you, that you’re not that good, not that worthy, not that deserving, that you can’t, that you’re embarrassed or worried about looking good or pleasing others, that you’re playing against another opponent will only keep on drawing more of those experiences into your game. You cannot deactivate a negative belief in order to get better…it only draws more of the same experience into your life. Sure once you make the commitment to be something new there will appear to be obstacles or set backs or ridicule that lie in the way. These are all illusions. And you can find a way to move around them, over them, or through them. For the truth of the matter is, you can be, do, or have whatever your heart desires. And if you don’t know that, then that’s the problem.
In all of these incidences above where you find yourself struggling you are quite literally paddling against the current. You’re resisting the natural flow. The first place to begin is to stop paddling so hard, stop trying so hard to figure this out…find some relief. Here’s the deal: you’ve got to find a way to feel good without having “that” condition change. Your dream will arrive that much quicker if you can first be happy without it. Because just the thought of not having it is a form of limited belief, which keeps you stuck in a lack mentality. So, what do I do if I have thought some of these kinds of thoughts that have not been in my best interest?
· I’m afraid
· I’m worried
· I judge myself too harshly
· I beat myself up
· I get mad at myself too often
· I choke
· I suck
· I have negative thoughts that get the best of me
· I think I can’t
· I’m scared
· I don’t want to hold another back…by looking for my lost ball all the time
· I get the yips
· I get ahead of myself
· I lose focus
· I’m trying
· I hold on to past failures
· I get result oriented
· Sometimes I’m just not having any fun
· I’m supposed to be better
· I don’t want to embarrass myself
· I’m not worthy, not deserving
· I want to win so badly that I’m feeling the lack of winning
· Yeah but, if only, it’s someone else’s fault, it’s a bad lie, etc., etc., etc.
· Poor me
So, these are the kinds of thoughts that are currently out of wack with our desire that are holding us back from living the life of our dreams.
Let’s acknowledge the fact, that we’ve thought some thoughts are hindering us. And some of the things we have allowed to be part of our experience are not easy to change; otherwise we would have done so by now. We’re kind of lost and we’re asking for some kind of relief, some kind of help, some kind of guidance and understanding into the mystery of life on and off the golf course. We’re looking for some kind of courage to change the things we can. Ask.
You’ve asked and now it is given. It’s time to take that leap of faith and just do it! You’ve got your dream; now take some action. The how’s will begin to present them selves through your commitment. You will be shown the way through providence or divine inspiration. It is as simple and as complex as that!
Understand this – the way you are feeling before the golf shot is an exact match to what you will get. If you keep thinking what you’ve always thought, then you will always get what you’ve always gotten. Hmmm…change the way you think and feel and you will change what you will get…brilliant deduction Einstein.
What’s the solution? You’ve got to start training your subconscious mind to think like a champion.
You’ve got to start activating more beneficial beliefs. You’ve got to give more “airtime” upon what you want. You’ve got to point yourself into the direction of your desires, or what you prefer. In the moment you understand that I’m not there yet, but I’m at least pointed toward it. In other words, I am where I am. This is the literal and vibrational understanding of what it means to be at peace with your self – both on and off the golf course.
Pretty soon old beliefs will fade away so far, so fast that you have a hard time even remembering what it was like before. Pretty soon you’ll end up creating the life of your dreams. Our purpose in life is to create our purpose. It’s why we have a vision, desire, dreams, intuition, intention, and visualization. It’s the quickest way to get from where we are to where we want to be next. The same works for each golf shot as well. Paint the picture and gravitate towards it.
Divine Feelings in 2009 - Part I
Okay, so you’ve got your vision or New Years golf resolution picture clearly painted in your minds eye, and you’ve declared out loud in front of others what you truly desire to be as a golfer this coming year; a lower handicap, more free to express yourself, break 90 on a consistent basis, a better putter, or world’s #1. You have haven’t you? Declaring out loud in front of another sets this whole process (commitment) of Providence (divine inspiration) into motion. Without a direction we become like the ship without a rudder. Reflect upon the wisdom of Albert Einstein, “Imagine your ideal future. Your imagination is your preview to life’s coming attractions.” You will become what you think about. You will gravitate towards the desire of your highest ambition. The mystery is solved when you decide to choose these things rather than waiting to someday discover them by chance. Remember the ending of this quote largely attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “…Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”
Kenny Perry, a PGA Tour veteran even surprised himself with doing some goal setting in 2008 by achieving his goal of being on the Ryder Cup team, saying something to the affect (paraphrasing), ‘Perhaps there is something here, something more to take a look at…’ Yes Kenny, you achieved because you put your mind and commitment upon this intention and believed it to be so. What’s new for 2009?
You see this first step is what keeps so many stuck in the same comfort zone rut year after year. While this concept seems so simple most golfers have no idea where they are going with their golf game, yet alone where they are going in life and the evolution and agenda of their soul. Most golfers think struggle and hard work on the range and body position is the key to a good golf game. I agree that practice and range work is part of this process, however I would replace the concept of struggle with allowing it to be. I also invite my students to first set an intention or a New Years golf resolution first. For a current review of creating a New Years golf resolution please read my last blog dated 12/30/08 to get yourself up to speed with this vital first step…then you will begin your journey by taking action and life will unfold as easily and as logically as Spock might say, ‘My calculations tell me that if you just take the next logical step you will 100% achieve the results you desire.’ All life is asking and all you are asking of yourself is just taking the next logical step. And when we do this we naturally allow the process to unfold in perfect timing. This is The Secret of the universe. It’s called The Law of Attraction – that which is likened unto it self is drawn. We Become What We Think.
The Secret (or the answer and wisdom) lies within you. It is the alignment with who you really are. It is the connection with Source Energy that allows the flow of Well-Being. It is this alignment and connection that is sought after by all. It is these expressions of alignment of Well-Being and this connection with life that we all desire to experience. It is the key to our peace, happiness, and joy within. Success is actually the amount of joy that we feel. What is it that you wish to be and feel? What state of beingness most inspires you? Go straight into being and feeling that both in life and on the golf course.
Another way to describe this alignment and connection is what are these feelings or expressions do you most desire to align with? What divine feeling do you want to explore or align with this coming year? What is the feeling, the frequency, or vibration? What is this energy that most resonates within your soul? Please take a moment to reflect and journal about this energy and this feeling.
What is this feeling? How will this feeling serve to make the dream (your dream) of the sacred universe come true? How does this feeling serve the greater whole?
* Help those around you?
* Heal your own heart?
* Make me a better me?
* Stretch beyond your comfort zone? Take risks? Color outside the box?
* Play golf & life like it is meant to be – for FUN!
* Step into the calling and next highest demonstration of your soul?
* Listen to the agenda of your soul. What the soul is after is the highest expression of who you really are. Feelings are the language of the soul. What is this feeling?
* How will this or these feeling(s) allow you to recreate yourself anew? And…
* “Become the grandest version of the greatest vision ever you have held about who you really are,” Neale Donald Walsch?
We all have these feelings, these levels of consciousness and connection with All That Is, this vibrational energy when we align with the frequency that resonates within our soul right inside us all the time. You see frustration and anxiety comes from not listening to one’s soul. Our job, therefore, is to align with our higher Self and these divine feelings and activate them. Think of it as a wake up call. Many of us have been going through life in a slumber sleep walk being tossed and reacting to life here and there as it unfolds as if it is by default, now I am asking you and reminding you to simply wake up again and choose to create intentionally. Wake up to the highest most divine expression of who you really are. Your soul has brought you to what you are being right now. Jesus described it this way, “Once I was lost and now I am found.” What is the divine feeling of being found?
…Stay tuned for the second half of this story
New Years Golf Resolution
On February 19, 2005 at 10:45 a.m. in the dead nuts of winter in Northern Michigan I announced my intention out loud to my friend Chris Shepler, “I’m gonna drop my handicap down to a 5 or less by July 4th.” I must have been leading up to this declaration having just come off yet another disappointing season barely breaking 80 only but a few times all year and seeing my handicap rise to over a 10 in both official and league play.
Now at the time I had no idea what this meant or if I could even achieve such a lofty goal. However, that’s the magic formula. That’s part of The Secret, which is the Law of Attraction. You must be willing to make a commitment in order to evolve into the direction of your dreams and desires. Although my personal guinea pig experiment did have a happy ending even though I endured a few set backs, some ridicule, plenty of growth experiences to work through (in golf we call these demons), and several feelings of just not knowing what might happen along my journey. Not only did I observe and witness my handicap drop from a 10 to a 7 to a 5 then to a 4.3, I also set a new intention in July, “I’m gonna drop my handicap to a 2 or less by the end of the summer.” I put into practice all that I have come to understand through applying the life principles to the game of golf. Providence moved to me and through me.
I ended the 2005 golf season as a 1.2 handicap golfer. I’m living my dream having played the best golf of my life for the last four years. As a soon to be 50-year old my handicap has fluctuated between a .7 and a 2.4 ever since. I also want you to know that my average handicap during my prime hovered around a six.
Why did all of this unfold like it did? It’s because I decided to make a bold commitment and set an outrageous intention – first! I decided to make a commitment and play full out – that’s what my life coaching has really taught and reminded me about – being a powerful creator in this amazing process or game of life. I invite you to do something similar and unique to your own game and life. Become a better or more authentic person on the inside, a better putter, better short game player, better at handling your emotions, have more fun, lower your handicap, or be more free to fully express yourself. Learn to play golf with eager anticipation and to your full potential.
The hows will eventually show themselves once you make a commitment. Providence will move through you. First, set a powerful intention or New Years golf resolution. Call it whatever you want. Plan your next move of becoming this dream with audacity and execute with vigor in your gitty up. Audacity in its purest form is extreme boldness, recklessly brave with a fearlessly one-minded focus. Vigor is a form of intense healthy growth while thriving to be your absolute best. This is the kind of outrageous enthusiasm involving mental toughness, physical well-being, and spiritual energy that inspires us to become that which we desire to be when one chooses their definiteness of purpose.
Am I out of the woods? Am I always playing with my A game, certainly not! Yet I am extremely grateful to be where I am. In the big picture of life on and off the golf course; life now becomes such an awe-inspiring and amazing adventure. It’s a journey I have now come to call The Fairway of Life.
Remember: Fortune Favors the Bold. Plan your next move with audacity and vigor right now. Why wait a second longer…go ahead and post your intention and tell another. I’ll help guide you into becoming the next grandest version of the greatest vision ever you held about who you really are. Tune in for the free teleconference winter / spring 2009 Mental Edge Coaching session coming soon. Sign up to receive the free newsletter with other gifts. Invite your friends. 2009 is going to be the best golf year ever!
Be Intent – Be As You Wish To Seem
The law of attraction states that which is likened unto it self is drawn. Thoughts create things and thoughts create swings. We become what we think. Intentions are a form of focused thought, similar to a goal, a desire from within, or having a dream. To be intent is to set your intention upon your desire where you literally drown out any other reverberation to the contrary. My friend Melissa from New Zealand and friends have created an entire program called beintent.com focusing on inspiring and drawing out your gifts that lie within.
In the words of Socrates, this means to “be as you wish to seem.” Think about it. Simply be as you wish to seem is such a simple, yet enlightening understanding. The same goes for everything else in our life. Mahatma Gandhi declared that we must be the change we wish to see in the world. To be as you wish to seem comes from a calling deep within your soul…it is your hearts desire and this desire if strong enough will over-ride any other vibration or belief you may have – and most of us carry with us a limited belief system based upon following the ways of the world. Most of us have given up on our dreams and neglected this key inspiration that springs forth from our desire. The real key or secret is to break free from this limited based thinking, get back on your true path, listen to the whisper of your soul, and be your hearts desires – as you wish to seem and act as if it was so.
When we are being as we wish to seem we gravitate toward the picture we are painting in our minds eye. This is what Tiger Woods dreamt about long before he eventually became the world’s #1 golfer. Be as you wish to seem and act as if it is so. Then one day you wake up living your dream. And whenever you are not being as you wish to seem, stop, catch yourself, find relief, and reach for the best feeling thought you can. Tiger refuses to give in to any fear either real or imagined that is out of alignment with his thinking of who he choses to be and become. Tiger knows there is only Well-Being flowing to him and through him. He’s free to fully express himself to his full potential. Isn’t that what we all want - freedom to fully express ourselves to our full potential. You tell me what you want and I’ll show you how to get it! The answer: One by one we let go of all the resistances, obstacles, or illusions we’ve allowed to run our subconscious mind. “Removing the clouds does not cause the sun to shine, but merely reveals that which was hidden all along,” Dr. David R. Hawkins. You see The Zone is like the sun, always flowing.
What kind of golfer do you desire to be? What kind of a person do you desire to be? Go straight into being that. Neale Donald Walsch talks about this be, do, have principle in his Conversations with God books and international speaking engagements. The Be-Do-Have Paradigm is another universal and spiritual law of creation. Most people get it backwards; they think that when they finally have this, then they will be able to do that, and then they can be this. In his book, Conversations with God, Book 3, Neale Donald Walsch discusses this principle with greater clarity. And you can substitute your own descriptions as they relate to your life on and off the golf course. I use Neale’s template and add golf specific examples to it. I find this very interesting as all of life operates the same way.
Most people believe if they have a thing (more time, more money, more love, a better golf game), then they can finally do a thing (write a book, go on vacation, buy a home, take up a hobby, undertake a relationship, really play better golf), which will allow them to be a thing (happy, peaceful, content, in love, or a calm, confident golfer).
In actuality, they are reversing the Be-Do-Have Paradigm. In the universe as it really is (as opposed to how you think it is), “havingness” does not produce “beingness,” but the other way around. First you “be” a thing called “happy” (or “knowing,” or “wise,” or “compassionate,” “calm,” “clear,” or whatever), then you start “doing” things from this place of beingness—and soon you discover that what you are doing winds up bringing you the things you’ve always wanted to “have.”
The way to set this creative process (and that’s what this is . . . the process of creation) into motion is to look at what it is you want to “have,” ask yourself what you think you would “be” if you “had” that, then go right straight to being. In this way you reverse the way you’ve been using the Be-Do-Have Paradigm—in actuality, set it right—and work with, rather than against, the creative power of the universe. Here is the short way of stating this principle: In life, you do not have to do anything. It is all a question of what you are being.
As in golf, so in life it is a matter of what you are being. Your state of beingness sets the stage for what you are doing, what you will have, and for how you will play. Your state of being (focused, clear, creative, artistic, poetic, confident, relaxed, calm, present, machine-like) produces your doing (your takeaway, back swing, rhythm, tempo, lag, whip, strike, follow through) which allows you to have (scoring, enjoyment, fun, prize money). It is the order of life’s paradigm that matters. You are a human being first. So stop trying to find the right and perfect thing to do and start creating the right and perfect thing to be. Be your most inspired state of being on the golf course and allow yourself to do it. Then you will be having fun and the results, scoring, or prize money will take care of itself.
Be as you wish to seem, be your hearts desire, and listen to your feelings, which is the language of your soul. You are brilliant and magnificent, worthy and loved, and if you do not know that, then that’s the problem and it’s high time you get back in the game focusing on the solution. You can be, do, or have whatever your heart desires.
The Magic Formula
Want to play your best golf? It all starts here, right now. It all starts with a thought. We become what we think. A thought is the start of something bigger. Call it whatever you wish. A thought can be a goal, an intention, or a dream. Thoughts bubble up through our asking, which come through our dreams, our prayers, or our meditation. We all are asking beings with new desires. Living the life of our dreams is why we chose to come forth into this magnificent world filled with all kinds of ingredients to choose from.
Tiger first dreamt about being the best golfer in the world. That’s step #1. So, the magic formula works this way.
1. Have a dream and envision the end result first. Really involve all your senses.
2. Start now – take action. You don’t have to wait until you are ready. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t have to know how. You just have to take the next logical step. Commit to taking action – NOW! The how’s will come to you. Try on this quote largely attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.
3. The how’s will come as soon as you fully commit and take action from the thoughts, which have given life to having a dream.
4. Manifestation is living the experience in which you created. One day you simply wake up realizing you are living your dream. It is as simple and as complex as that!
5. Remember the Magic Formula for success, which is absolutely the amount of joy that you feel:
Dream (end result) + Action (commitment) = How’s (Providence – divine inspiration) + manifestation (perceived understanding from the eye of the beholder that you are actually living your dream).
Remember you are brilliant, worthy, and magnificent just exactly as you are. Be who you really are. Align with the abundant stream of Well-Being. That’s what this “The Zone” stuff is all about. Go with the flow!
All successful people practice this formula whether they are aware of it or not. They harness the power of intention and commit to a goal or a dream and move forward—and you can do this too! We all have the same chemistry makeup and ability to succeed with the gifts and talents within us. And it’s all relative to each one of us. We all have our own unique gifts to offer humanity. What we are really asking for is the freedom to fully express ourselves to our full potential. This magic formula will set you on your way.
So, instead of just watching your heroes on television and saying, “I wish I had what they have,” which is a form of projection, focus, lock onto the moment, become mentally strong, and be it and do it yourself! We all are modeling something, we all can dream. Instead of thinking wistfully about the accomplishments of Tiger or Lorena (Ochoa) or any other exemplary person or athlete, choose to model who they are and what they do. Or decide to become something entirely new, on your own, that you envision yourself to be. You have the power within you. Take back your own power – Espavo.
Follow your bliss. Keep on keeping on.
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