A Game Plan

I'm sitting at my desk the day before a holiday weekend contemplating everything that I need to do next week. I have a couple of client engagements, one of which is going to require a lot of preparation. I have to write an article for one of my newsletters. I need to complete an audio program that I committed to do. Plus, I set a goal to write one blog per week. On top of this is training for my first half marathon in December and at least two rounds of golf.

I need a game plan. What works best for me is to establish a completion date for each task and work back to when I need to start it. That is called necessity thinking. About 80 percent of the population are necessity thinkers. We are at our best when we have deadlines and pressure. The other end of the spectrum are possibility thinkers who begin tasks as soon as possible and do all they can to avoid the pressure of a deadline.

A problem that we necessity thinkers sometimes face is that we are overly optimistic regarding the amount of time to complete a task. If something unexpected comes up, we end up scrambling even more to get everything done. We are more prone to mistakes when we are in the scramble mode.

So, my game plan is to build in a little extra time for each task. If all goes perfectly, then I'll have a some extra time to work on something else, or maybe even get in another round of golf.

Golf Lesson

Professional golfers develop a game plan for tournament that they play.They will play practice rounds before a tournament to get a feel for the course and to develop a strategy for playing each hole. They do this so they have fewer strategic decisions to make during a tournament and can focus their attention on making good shots.

It is interesting that much of the planning is done backwards. They usually start with where they want to land the ball on the green. On a course like Augusta National, this is absolutely essential to shooting a good score. Once they know where they want to land the ball on the green, they determine the best place in the fairway to hit the ball from. They will try to position tee shots or lay up shots to be in the best position to approach the green.

Most amateur golfers could save several strokes per round having a game plan, particularly if if is a course you play all the time.