Mental Toughness is the ability to maintain a steady state.

For the ultimate 'mental toughness' you need to have a mental conditioning coach develop a drill that works for you specifically to condition you for your state management on the golf course. The ideal session necessary to develop results conditioning is 90 minutes. Mental conditioning, mental toughness, peak performance, physical performance, resilience to negative effects on the golf course is a life time investment in yourself as a person and as a golfer.

We all experience states we don't like - denying they exist, don't make them go away.

How do you change your state when your on the golf course? It requires keen awareness on your part. It's not what happens to you - it is what you do with what happens to you that counts. States are also contagious, so watch out. How is your state affecting others, and how is their state affecting you? All great question to have for a round-routine - solid answers to dial into your nervous system.

Your ability to focus on the golf course can be your heaven or hell when you competing. The prime rule in this reality is we must become in our lives what we choose to experience in the world. Have no doubt, reality changes in the present as a direct result of our focus. The more we focus, the greater the change.

There is always a subtle yet powerful difference between working toward a result and thinking and feeling from it. In our minds we are always "on our way" to a accomplishment.

We also tend to experience what we identify with in our beliefs. The quality of our beliefs and expectations have a direct and powerful effect on what happens to us on the golf course. My research has shown the more intense the "watching" - focus, the greater the watchers influence is on how the ball behaves. Your ability to focus, stay focused and stay in state, is the mind-set of a champion. State management is a must for competitive, consistent and fun for a golfer while out playing on the course.

What changes are you planning for 2010?

What do you want more of, less of – and perhaps none of, going into the New Year?

A New Year, a New Decade – and New Opportunities that are on the horizon for all of us.

Doing more of what works is the secret of effortless change. There is a reason for this. Repetition is the mother of skill – so is always learning, always growing. To do, be and create at the next level what you already know, – what your already good at takes effort. If you have learned to do something one way – you can always learn to do it better. This is something golfers really understand. So is mental conditioning.

Mental Conditioning will be of interest to you only if want unlimited success. It’s about learning things that you already know about by learning to look beyond the way things are. It is about learning more, being more skillful and executing what you do more acutely with less effort. It is a “mental intelligence” that will keep you going in the coming year and for years to come. Thoughts become things and the same level of thinking that got you where you’re at – is not going to get you where you need to go.

We all have the power we need to create all the focus we need to see the opportunities before us. We know the juice we get from being mentally sharp, on top of our game when we are clear about things. We all know in our own way what works in our life, and what doesn’t. The same is true in business and on the golf course.

Neville, who wrote The Power of Awareness might have said it best, “Man’s chief delusion is his conviction that there are causes other than his own state of consciousness.’

May you have effortless and lasting change in 2010 to do be and create more of you want and more of what is important to you and yours?

We all live in a world that is moving very fast. And if ever you feel like you’re on a merry go round some days or hamster on a wheel, or feel stuck – may you embrace mental conditioning. Because it is true, in order for things to change, good bad wrong or right, who must change? YOU! You and your thinking must learn to keep up!

Keep it going! Happy New Year to all, Ida.

Who you are at your core personality never changes. You can add to it – you can delete from it, but you cannot change your essence.

Why do people look for reason to blame others to justify their thoughts and behaviors? Because countless factors impact who we are and how we behave and it is our personality that is at the core of our behavior. Your core is the driving force of your innate behavior, skills and talents.

Our conscience is our voice of reason, our checks and balances for right and wrong.

Our personality, our core motive speaks to us about being true to our self’s.

You cannot ignore what drives your core motives, nor can you pretend they don’t matter because if you do – you will never experience your true self. Personality is innate and motive-based.

“Stay True to Who You Are,” writes Loren Slocum, a Mother, Wife, International Life/Balance Coach and Speaker, Founder of LoBella International. Loren’s message rings true in all of us. We each have an innate
desire in becoming the best we can be and the best way to do this is to know thyself. Loren, a dear long time friend, always empowers me to be true to myself.

So ask yourself, “What motivates me the most at this time in my life to be the best I can be?” The answer is the fuel to start your engines for 2010. Living a deliberate life, living with passion and purpose, comes from claiming yourself.

Ways to increase your ability to stay the course and trust the process to be your best, once charted, comes from clarity and boundaries. Make a commitment to stay around healthy people, stay close to nature, and keep learning, something you can truly do on a golf course. Golf is a great way to connect with nature, have confidence, inner motivation and a positive sense of self and courage. Each of these are ways to increase your congruence.

Staying on your life course, takes a charted course- a mind-map. Each of us needs to live creatively in stable and unstable times. Each of us can condition ourselves to correct and improve our state in the moment.

Don’t wait until you feel your life is taking you nowhere to begin, do it now. “The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn… and change” said Carl Rogers. And I agree. The future belongs to the congruent!