[Flash] Momentum Shifting – Novak Djokovic vs. Rory McIlroy

• Forget it and focus on winning the game
• Worry about making more mistakes

Unfortunately, Rory seemed to choose the latter.

He lost the tournament by one stroke! Golf commentators wondered aloud if Rory was trying too hard ‘not to lose’ instead of playing to win.

Conversely, while the winner, Wyndham Clark, made numerous mistakes on the golf course, he remained poised and centered, playing like a man destined to win.

Holding the trophy, Wyndham told a reporter, “I worked so hard and dreamed about this moment for so long. I just felt like it was my time.”

Similarly, during the recent French Open tennis tournament, Novak Djokovic’s opponent was leading after the first set. Novak won by creating a Momentum Shift.

Novak advises young people: “Be in the present moment, forget what happened in the past. If you want a better future, create it.”

Momentum Shift
Typically, it starts with a mistake followed by a decision.

• That decision changes your thinking and feeling, positively or negatively,
• which impacts your sense of control, confidence, optimism, and energy,
• which obstructs or bolsters your momentum,
• which transfers dominance from or to you.

We lose (or create) momentum when we lose (or create) focus.

Famous comebacks are borne out of Momentum Shifts, as evidenced by the New England Patriot’s Super Bowl 38-26 win after entering the fourth quarter 25 points behind the Atlanta Falcons.

Whether you’re delivering a presentation, leading a team, or interviewing for an opportunity, you can create a Momentum Shift:

• Notice if you’re dwelling on mistakes, fearful of making more mistakes
• Stop ruminating on what you should have done differently
• Avoid over-analyzing your performance
• Place psychological distance between any error and your next move
• Glance, grow, and go – you can glean insights and learn from mistakes, but only if you stay in action
• Identify visual and internal cues that help you perform well
• Create your future with those performance prompts

When one of his players chastised himself for a mistake, Jason Sudeikis’ character Ted Lasso advised, “You know what the happiest animal on Earth is? It’s a goldfish. It has a 10-second memory. Be a goldfish, Sam.”

© 2023. Ann Tardy and MentorLead. www.mentorlead.com. All Rights Reserved.