The Wisdom of Tiger Woods

In the film The Legend of Bagger Vance, the mystical golf caddy Bagger Vance coaches young golfer Rannulph Junuh to help find his one true authentic swing. Bagger explains that we are each born with our own authentic swing and that it’s up to us to find it. But like most of us, Rannulph has years of life experiences and emotional baggage that hinders him from connecting with his swing.

I think it’s fair to say that twenty-seven-year-old golf champion Tiger Woods has metaphorically and figuratively found his authentic swing. Through an alchemical transformation, Tiger takes hundreds of minute technical details and magically melds them into a fluid, seemingly effortless motion. Tiger’s poetry of the links echoes the brilliance of a Mozart concerto or a Monet impression.

In performance terminology, Woods demonstrates “unconscious competence” on the golf course. Unconscious competence occurs when one excels at a given activity without needing conscious awareness of his actions. This doesn’t mean Tiger is unconscious when he swings his seven iron—his intense focus simply projects beyond the details.

When you enter a state of unconscious competence, you connect with your natural, rhythmic flow. Your thoughts resonate with your body. Your movements become flawless. Your words become poetic. Your level of consciousness transcends to a degree of enlightened clarity. In that moment, you embody your authenticity.

Alas, our authentic self is often out to lunch, buried beneath an infinite number of momentary distractions. Disharmonic breathing combines with inconsistent actions; dissonant thoughts combine with disempowering language. The resulting performance? Usually less than stellar.

To connect with your authentic swing, discover what you love to do and do it often. Focus on ways to become better at it and make it a daily discipline. Continue to practice. And then…let go. Trust yourself, and your swing will find you.

Note that “finding your authentic swing” presupposes that the swing is within you. Too often, we look outside ourselves for the answers. Books, tapes, videos, seminars and teachers may provide us with a deeper understanding, but none of these modalities will uncover our true self. This, my friends, is an internal Journey.

We have all the resources we need right now, if not for the stumbling blocks we unknowingly create within us. Observe your thoughts, monitor your beliefs and watch your actions—all three provide you with clues for unleashing your true self. Galileo Galilei said, “We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves.”

Where in your life can you unmask your authenticity—and find your true self?

Happy Journeys!
Scott Jeffrey