Amateurs Vs The Pros – What Makes The Real Difference
Mindset, belief and self-confidence are super important if you wish to achieve any great feat in life, and many know this, but they still allow this to take them down, to knock their game and to stop them from progressing to the destination they set out for.
What’s the difference?
The difference that sets apart amateurs and professionals are actually pretty simple, its not the skill (That helps, but can be learnt), it’s not even the attitude (Although this is close), nor is it the determination to succeed (again very helpful).
The real difference is the mindset, you see the biggest difference between the amateur and the professional is that when things start to go wrong for an amateur it is very easy for the rest of the game to fall apart, the amateur looks at everything beyond that moment as disastrous. That one bad stroke or shot throws them off-kilter and the rest of the game begins to spiral into an abyss.
That swing just doesn’t seem to hit the spot, that pitch is woeful, it’s like all hope is suddenly lost and can never be returned, the amateur allows themselves to fall into this ever spiralling funk, and no matter how hard they try everything that once seemed so perfect becomes unbearable and wrong.
The Professionals way!
However the professionals don’t let this bad shot pull them off course, instead of looking at it as their downfall, they take the feedback from it and find a way to learn from it. What went wrong, what needs to be improved, what can they do to make up the lost space and get back on track as quick as possible.
You see the amateur and the professional aren’t too dissimilar, the real difference is the ability to bounce back, but bounce back with the mindset that allows them to continue winning.
What to do –
Think about this the next time you find something that doesn’t work in your favour, when maybe things go a little wrong, give yourself the time to recover, don’t let this minor hiccup be the thing that derails you for the rest of the game. Compose yourself, look at what happened, take the feedback and ask yourself how you can improve, what can you change and then attack your challenge with confidence, poise and determination to win.