-
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 
FeedBurner-
Upcoming Events
Vist Me On...
DandyID
Digg
Twitter
YouTube
MySpace
FacebookThe Secret is The Law of Attraction…
…And it works every time with everything, including our golf game. So…don’t settle for mediocrity, and don’t settle for less anymore.
First, you must ask for what you clearly want – set an intention, visualize your goal, have a dream… Clearly state your end result, whether it is to break 100, be a 7-handicap golfer by the end of summer, or as in the case of Andrew Ruthkoski from Muskegon, Michigan play on the PGA Tour and be top 10 in the world. Like Nick Faldo keeps repeating, we gravitate toward the picture we are painting. Act as if it is so. If you just pretend on a daily basis, no matter how far-fetched, or scary, or silly it may seem that “it” is yours for the taken. Stars will realign and Providence will move through you – you will be shown how, but not until you fully commit. Visualize your end result…stop…take a snapshot picture of what that looks like, notice where you are now…and then make the necessary changes one at a time.
Step two, the second you commit God / The Universe answers – what you really, really want you get. Likewise, what you really, really don’t want you get. Apply this principle to everything, including what you’re thinking with every shot. Yes, we always get what we ask for – even lack or where we don’t want to go. Wanting something and not having it is a lack mentality. “Ask wisely, with love, for everything you want,” Mark Victor Hansen. Simply let it be and give thanks.
Whenever negative thoughts come up begin shifting your attention and thinking to more and more beneficial thoughts and beliefs – gradually you will drown out the negative ones and one day you’ll wake up a new you, letting go of old foolish self-sabotaging behaviors…wondering how it used to be with a smile on your face appreciating becoming your new desire. There is a process in creating a champion’s self-image, which runs everything in our life, including our golf game.
The third step in this process is that you align with this Well-Being, this pure positive energy and allow it in. This is what golfers call being in The Zone…and you can be there more often than ever before. Just take the next logical step. It’s dream plus action, which equals how plus manifestation. The how’s will be clearly shown once you fully commit. Pretty soon…you’re living the life of your dreams. Be patient and embrace the process – growth can be, and usually is messy. Most will want to quit, run away, or crawl back into their shell – or worse blame others and come up with all kinds of excuses. Take responsibility for being the creator of your life and you will be well on your way. You are God’s greatest creation, and you are meant to win!
I emphasis all of this again and again – because most will fail to set such a lofty goal for several negative based reasons, and many will die with the music still in them. Many have “wishful thinking” thoughts waiting to be ready. Summers pass and years go by. The time is now…and you will not have to think but for one second why you received this message today. Most will think they are undeserving or unworthy. Few will trust in the power of intentions and live the life of their dreams.
Remember challenges, adversity, and obstacles are what builds and strengthens our internal fortitude. We are both challenged in this life and blessed with amazing gifts.
For a deeper understanding of these amazing life principles be sure to pick up a copy of my new book, The Fairway of Life: Simple Secrets To Playing Better Golf By Going With The Flow ~.
Namaste,
Rand Marquardt
Life & Mental Golf Performance Coach
Inspiring Excellence Within!
P.S. Remember: Life & Golf are supposed to be fun
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.
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!
Recognizing Communication Breakdown in Golf & Life
There are so many things in life and golf to be grateful for and of course so many things to be disheartened by. There are always things we are working on to fix, change, and become better at, and there are other things we have very little control over, like our club head speed, which determines our distance – it’s a physics thing you know, something we can learn to accept and embrace. New technology will take us only so far. But today I want to bring to your attention something that we all can work on that will not only change the lives of those around us but will change our lives as well. “What’s that?” you might ask. Well, I will tell you — it is the way that we communicate.
The way we ask questions, give answers, listen, and share information can make someone’s day or it can ruin it. I’m sure you had someone say something to you regarding your golf game or some other negative comment that took the spirit right out of your sails. These upsetting moments plant seeds of low self-esteem into the very fabric of our subconscious minds – before too long we begin to believe and live this lie.
Have you ever asked yourself, ‘How am I showing up on the golf course? How am I communicating with others?’ You know you can learn an awful lot about a person by playing a round of golf with them. And you can learn an awful lot about yourself. I know you’ve recognized certain empowering aspects (gratitude, focus, mental toughness, joy, love) and less than desirable traits (anger, frustration, fear, insecurity, hate) in another. Yet have you really gone inside and observed how you are showing up as well. What we do to another we do to ourselves. What we do to ourselves we do to another. Golf on the fairway of life becomes a circle. The Secret is the law of attraction. We become what we think.
I invite you to become fully present and really observe yourself in how you are communicating with yourself and with others. If you find yourself beating up on yourself just close your eyes for a moment and ask yourself, “What hidden thought or belief have I been unaware of that affects my communications?” When you get in touch with your communications and their consequences, be gentle on yourself. Beating up on ourselves will not make us better communicators. In fact, it will do just the opposite.
Begin to notice right now the communications that you have received or ones that you have delivered that no longer serve your best interest and one by one release them and be grateful in becoming a better you. If there is someone to apologize too, say you are sorry with a compassionate heart and with true intention. Finally watch and observe your thoughts and the words you speak and replace them with a new more empowering self-talk, belief and focus. Sweeten your delivery and bring more awareness to each moment like a champion – you might just end up playing like one!
Think, talk, play, and carry yourself like a champion – Today!
Rand S. Marquardt, Author
Performance Enhancement Coach
Specializing in the Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Aspects of Golf
www.golfissupposedtobefun.com
(231) 838-5433
Inspiring Excellence Within
Visualization is Key to Becoming a Better Golfer
Who doesn’t desire to become a better golfer? Tiger Woods is on a mission to become a better golfer, are you? Lorena Ochoa put in a grueling winter 2007 practice schedule that looked like this:
1. 7:00 – 10:00 am: Short game 100 yards in
2. 11:00 – 1:00 pm: Putting
3. 2:00 – 5:00 pm: Long game
4. 5:30 – 7:30 pm: Meditation, yoga, and gym workout
Most likely us mere mortals who don’t play the game for our career and money (skins and Nassau aside) will not have this kind of time to invest into our golf game, however, what I have found is that if we practice the universal life principles of The Secret (the law of attraction), learn to embrace the moment and find out it’s insights, reach for better feeling thoughts remembering to go with the flow, and visualize, visualize, visualize, our life both on and off the golf course will dramatically improve and become better. All it takes is a simple shift in perspective.
The fastest, surest, easiest, and most ingenious way, between here and there is visualizing! What’s your take on visualizing? Are you? Tiger Woods visualizes his entire round before he plays. Jack Nicklaus sees the ball landing exactly how he sees it in his mind. Trevor Immelman dreamed about being the best golfer in the world, and for 4 days in April at The Masters he was.
The primary intention is to attract all of those whose dreams, desires, and goals are to play better golf – mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. As a student of life coaching and life education I decided to apply these universal life principles to the game of golf – once I healed and transformed my life enough to ‘get it.’I decided to set a powerful intention and trust life and let life know it can trust me.
For most of my ‘prime time’ golfing life I played to about a 6-handicap. In my mid-forties my handicap rose to an all time high of a 10. So, on February 19, 2005 I set an intention to drop my handicap to a 5 or less by July 4th.
I wanted to be a guinea pig in my own experiment. What followed is an amazing story because once you fully commit providence moves and the universe conspires with your desires. You too can connect to source energy and your higher (authentic) Self and play the game of golf and life to your full potential as we learn to love ourselves and align with life’s pure positive energy.
Learn how I went from a struggling, frustrated, and sometimes out of integrity being and a 10-handicap golfer to a more aligned, authentic, awakened being and a 1-handicap golfer in just one summer…and have stayed there for four years now…simply by accepting, embracing, observing, connecting, and listening to my higher Self. Lots of stuff to chew on…and each bullet point in connecting the dots in our life is as simple and complex as that!
In other words taking that next step is no easy step, unless it is? What’s coming up for you? What’s your next step? You think you can figure this out on your own? I did too – for over 30 years I thought I could figure this out too. And I’m practically a straight ‘A’ student with a Master’s degree – so what? Big deal! Yes, the answer and wisdom does lie within you – most are just too plane scared to find out something they might not like and continue sabotaging themselves in so many ways. Better not go there, that’s creepy. Yes, in order to get to the positives we first have to deal with the negatives – fearful thoughts, poor self-talk, playing scared and small, feeling unworthy and undeserving, blames, excuses, and poor me’s – Boo frickin’ hoo! Want to get back into the game of life, or are you just venting?
In the days and months to follow we will talk about getting healthy again, Dreams, The Zone (what it is and how to be in it), and your comfort zone (how you have settled for less and how to lower it), how to overcome and greatly reduce your fears, anger, worry, and frustrations, and how to create a champion’s self-image. So for now I invite you to begin to notice and observe your self on the golf course. How are you showing up? How are you feeling? What are you thinking? What’s happening in your body? The place to start is to notice and journal about that experience.
Embrace the highs and lows along the fairway of life. Be appreciative and grateful, and remember golf and life are meant to be and are supposed to be fun!
Warmly,
Rand S. Marquardt, Author
Performance Enhancement Coach
Specializing in the Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Aspects of Golf
www.golfissupposedtobefun.com
(231) 838-5433
Inspiring Excellence Within!
-
THE FAIRWAY OF LIFE e-zine + Bonus
Simple Secrets to Playing Better Golf
By Going With The Flow ~ Newsletter
+ Bonus
First Two Chapters of
"The Fairway Of Life"We respect your privacy!