I recently had the privilege of leading a golf trip to Scotland. Playing six rounds of golf in St. Andrews and Dornoch was a tremendous experience and learning opportunity. In particular, three lessons that apply on, and off, the course stood out.

While the intention is to gently remind you to duck, I think it's a solid reminder for all of us. Minding your head includes getting sufficient sleep, exercising, meditating, managing self-talk, and practicing gratitude.

2. Check your settings. Golfers who travel with their clubs frequently remove their driver's head to reduce the chances of damage from a baggage handler. They reinstall it upon arrival. While it can be habitual, it's always a good practice to double-check the settings on the driver. If you don't, you may set yourself up for a day of frustration and unnecessary compensation. From time to time, it's a good idea to check your own performance settings to ensure that you're doing the things you need to do in order to reach your destination.

3. Good strike. Rather than say, "Good shot," the Scots will say, "Good strike." The unpredictable bounces of links golf often put a seemingly good shot into a difficult spot. I experienced this a number of times. Rather than get frustrated with an "unfair" result that doesn't meet your expectations, say "Good strike." Acknowledge that you executed your process well and continue to focus on controlling the controllable.

The Vegas Golden Knights have taken a disruptive approach to winning since their inception. While many in the NHL may not like how they've done it, they would be hard-pressed to argue with the Knights' philosophy of It hurts to win.

As Knights center Nic Roy says, "Whatever it is you’ve got to do this time of year, you do it.” Emblematic of this approach is the Knights willingness to block shots. Imagine putting yourself in front of a hard puck traveling at up to 100 mph. Now, do that over and over, so that you lead the league in the blocked shot stat. This sacrifice for the team epitomizes, "It hurts to win." After Jack Eichel stumbled into a big hit by Matthew Tkachuk, he left the ice, only to return in the next period and set up a goal. Coach Bruce Cassidy said, "It’s OK to get hit in June. This is part of the journey. It hurts to win and it’s not supposed to be easy. Good for him.” The late mental performance coach Trevor Moawad wrote a book that echoes this idea - It Takes What It Takes. The willingness to do hard things begins with a commitment to the goal. Whether it's conditioning, playing defense, or blocking pucks, some discomfort is essential to success. In the Knights' case, they've ridden that all the way to the Stanley Cup.

Have you ever had a great pregame warmup, thought to yourself, "This is going to be a great day," and then played terribly? Have you ever had a terrible warmup, thought to yourself, "This is going be terrible," and then played great? We've all experienced this phenomenon. It arises because the brain is a prediction-making machine. In much of our life, this works to our advantage. It's what allows us to play sports, but it's not so helpful in pregame warmups. 

Instead of falling into the prediction trap, remember what the purpose of a warmup is - to prepare the mind and body for competition. So the next time you find yourself making predictions about how a performance is going to go, repeat to yourself, "Preparation, not prediction."

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