Immediately after Rory McIlroy won the 2014 Open Championship, he was asked about the key to his victory. Without hesitation, he stated that he repeated two words to himself throughout the tournament: “ball” and “process”. He went on to explain that he had to trust his process, and that success was all about his current shot and the ball at that moment. If he tried to do too much with any shot, then he would fail.
For anyone that watched The Masters in April, you might be confused. While Rory won the Masters, most people would consider him to be anything but in control of his mental focus. From hole to hole, he was sporadic and inconsistent, making him the only Masters winner in history to post four double bogies in the tournament. He wasn’t surrendering to the process, and he certainly wasn’t focusing only on the current shot. Watching the tournament on TV, we could see him trying to control each shot and seemed to have the weight of his career on every single ball.
Watching this unfold, and remembering the younger Rory was weird to me. We’re supposed to mature as we get older, right? Rory seemed to be in complete control of his emotions 11 years ago, allowing himself to let go and focus on the things in front of him. Now, as a mature 35-year-old, he seemed to be a mess, even though he won. Then, as I thought about it, I felt great. I felt human. I felt validated. I felt equipped with the right knowledge to handle anything that comes my way. Like I said, I felt great. Here’s why…
No matter how much we mature, life can be difficult. Watching 24-year-old Rory McIlroy speak so confidently was overwhelming to me. His slowness and command made me feel inadequate. In April, I watched a 35-year-old push through his inadequacy to win the Masters. Same person. Different time and scenario … and he still had success.
What does this have to do with you?
Sales is a roller-coaster career. A salesperson could be having breakfast with a protégé and sharing their wisdom in a sage-like fashion, and by lunchtime be desperately begging for reassurance from their boss because of three bad sales calls. That’s ok. If you’re a rookie and constantly full of performance anxiety, that’s ok. That’s normal. If you’re a seasoned vet who is a legend in your marketplace, and you’re second-guessing your performance lately, that’s ok. Confidence is not a one-way street.
As humans, we wobble back and forth as we learn more about things, and that’s ok. As long as the wobble is moving in the positive direction year to year, ever so slightly, wobbling is ok. In fact, you’ll eventually learn how to perform while wobbling – just like Rory did in April!
