My EQ Golfing Journey

Here’s to the most rejuvenating vacation ever — an all-golf adventure at a Jack Nicklas 27-hole course in Mexico where Ron and I played on eight sunny days. Heaven on earth!

And, for this “never played any sports in my life” kind of girl, I’m crazy about this game! It’s injected new joys into our marriage, business engagements and conversations and has me setting my sights on the LPGA – HA!

An amazing new part of playing (for me) was meeting the other two players of our destined foursomes — so many different people from all over the world and all ages. One of golf’s first virtues is that people of any age can play it, and play it all together. We enjoyed foursomes with an inspiring Asian couple from California; Gen X dad (Jeff) and his 11 year old son/golf prodigy, Alex; Dr. Dick from Towson, MD, with whom I had several colleagues in common; Steve and Chris, whose wives are friends from Romania; a retired dentist/member of a reformed Jewish congregation and his Gen X son, who is a multimedia expert/artist.

On our final round, Ron and I had our international challenge cup foursome with Michael from England and Stephen from Alberta, Canada (pictured) – it’s a small world after all. Four souls, representing multiple generations and all energized to enjoy the gift of being mobile, the beauty of God’s creation, and the intellectual challenge of a game against oneself, which includes frequent laughing at oneself!

Love this game – civil, challenging, unrelenting and humbling – all mixed into one. Golf is the finest test of character and a unique opportunity to exercise your emotional intelligence (EQ). “It rewards players who remain calm under pressure, never lose their temper and seek to think strategically. These are all virtues in business, too.” http://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory/2011/11/golf-and-business

While I often practice self-talk (silently) and encourage my clients to do the same, I admit losing control and letting it rip several times — “Oh shucks, Rita! What were you thinking?” BTW … That was not helpful self-talk. My more mature self-talk was, “Head down, left arm straight, no leaning.” That worked much more effectively every time. And that’s the thing about golf. You’ve got to be equally thinking about your thinking to make progress and using your emotional intelligence to, as Kent Black states so eloquently, “Accept failures with grace and victories with humility.” http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-05/the-ten-commandments-of-business-golf

Go Play!