The Legend of Bagger Vance and Finding Your Perfect Authentic Shot to Lead the Field

The Legend of Bagger Vance - Seeing the Field


Click the link above if you cannot see the YouTube video.

Yesterday, I watched "The Legend of Bagger Vance" starring Will Smith, Matt Damon and Charlize Theron and directed by Robert Redford. I'd forgotten how much I liked this movie and what a great metaphor for life it is. After seeing this movie for the first time I immediately bought the book from which this movie is derived - "The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life" by Stephen Pressfield.

In this movie Rannulph Junah plays a troubled war-hero who has lost his golf swing. Then a golf tournament like no other is set on Krewe Island golf course off Savannah attracts two golfing legends - Bobby Jones and Walter Hagan for an epic thirty-six hole showdown. Rannulph Junah who showed great promise as a golfer before going to war is representing the home-side.

However, it is the mysterious caddie, Bagger Vance, played by Will Smith, which is pivotal in this golf tournament. To play at his best, Junah has to overcome his inner demons and find not just his golf swing but his authentic golf swing.

Bagger Vance is more than a caddie. He becomes Junah's coach and mentor. He guides Junah and allows him to make and learn from his mistakes. However, he is also there to provide guidance when Junah is ready and willing to listen.

It's hard allowing those we care about to make what we clearly see as mistakes but what we often fail to see that it's not about the mistake. It's about the lesson embedded in the mistake and, sometimes, the only way to learn the lesson is to make the mistake.

To achieve great success in life you also need to have great vision - an unobstructed view of what is you want to accomplish. You have to be able to see the field. When you can achieve this, the obstacles that you thought existed disappear and remaining "obstacles" become relatively easy to deal with because you will find that these obstacles exist mainly in your mind.

There is a beautiful moment in the movie where Bagger Vance teaches Junah how to see the field. He tells Junah that:

"There's a perfect shot in each and every one of us and all we got to do is get ourselves out of its way and let it choose us."

In other words, we are the ones who put up the greatest resistance to achieving our greatness. We each have a path - call it our destiny. It's a path that has been carved out for us but we wander this way and that, and allow ourselves to be distracted and conflicted by our very thoughts.

Our inner voice, the voice of truth then gets lost in all the noise. On those rare occasions it does break through we may be distrustful of this inner voice which has been with us all along but yet has become unfamiliar because of the lack of attention we have been paying it.

"You have to trust your inner knowing. If you have a clear mind...you won't have to search for direction. Direction will come to you."
Phil Jackson

It's our inability to quieten the mind and listen to our authentic self who is trying to guide us that perhaps gives us the greatest challenge. When we are able to do this, when we get clear about our intention, when we believe in ourselves is when magic starts to happen in our lives. We start to consciously manifest the things we want as opposed to the things we don't want.

"The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom."
James Allen

So you have to quieten the mind, quell the useless chatter to allow yourself to see things as undistorted. When you receive an inspired thought you have to learn to trust it and take INSPIRED ACTION. You have to learn that life is a game and that you just need to play it to the best of your ability.

To do so often means getting out of your own way so that your perfect 'shot' or your perfect path will be revealed to you. Your 'shot' may seem uncharacteristic look at Michael Johnson and his upright running style but as he said if he ran like everyone else he would have been back there with the pack instead of leading the field.

It may not be a well-trodden path. You may have to establish a path so that others can follow but it will be authentic and, like Rannulph Junah, you too may overcome your self-imposed limitations, even come from behind and lead the field.




The Legend of Bagger Vance Will Smith Matt Damon metaphor for life game of life lead the field

Indiana Jones - the Ultimate Goal Achiever

Indiana Jones' "Leap of Faith"

Click the link above if you cannot see the YouTube video.

The Indiana Jones films are great adventure films and I couldn't resist watching "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" last night. However, while the films are fun to watch there are many lessons to be learnt about goal achievement as well.

1. Indiana follows his passion

Indiana is passionate about archaeology and this is what drives him. Those who have achieved great success all believe vehemently in the importance of following your passion and doing what you love. It is only by doing this that you will continue to have the motivation to persevere in spite of enormous odds.

It is only by following your passion that you will have the energy and drive to keep going even though the journey towards your goal may be an arduous one and at times you may become weak.

"The key that unlocks energy is desire. It's also the key to a long and interesting life. If we expect to create any drive, any real force within ourselves, we have to get excited."
Earl Nightingale

2. Indiana has very clear values

Indiana's values made it easy for him for him to make decisions and take action. Great goal achievers are great decision-makers and they take action. Too often people do not achieve the level of success they desire because they spend too much time deciding what to do and too little time actually doing anything.

True some things require careful deliberation but in many cases, especially when it comes to the day-to-day activities that will help you to make progress towards your goal you have to learn how to quickly weigh up a situation and make the best decision there and then on how to move forwards.

Having clear values and clearly defined goals will go a long way in helping you to make those timely decisions.

"Your only purpose in life is to make choices. Once the choice is made, the whole universe moves to bring into fruition that which you chose."

3. Indiana confronts his fears

One of the endearing qualities about Indiana is that he is very human. He too has his fears, for instance, he hates snakes. Yet he does not let his fears stand in the way of achieving his goal.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."
Ambrose Redmoon

When you set yourself challenging goals, at some point you will come up against something that you fear. The trouble is what you fear may not be tangible. It may be a limiting or negative belief such as the fear of failure or the fear of success.

However, limiting or negative beliefs can stop you dead in your tracks if you do not develop techniques and strategies to clear yourself of these limiting and negative beliefs. The good thing is that the more you practice these clearing techniques the easier it will become to overcome your fears.

"When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was not really such a big threat after all. We all need some form of deeply rooted, powerful motivation - it empowers us to overcome obstacles so we can live our dreams."
Les Brown

But back to "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" - my favourite bit in the movie is Indiana Jones' "leap of faith". There's just something about that scene. It is such a great visual representation of what we all must go through to achieve anything of significance.

Indiana has to cross a huge chasm in order to reach his goal - the Holy Grail and yet there is seemingly no way across the chasm. He murmurs to himself,

"It's impossible. Nobody can jump this."

And then the realisation dawns on him that he needs to take a "leap of faith". Earlier in the film his father thought he that his son had died as he fell over a cliff and he bemoaned that the fact that he had not told him anything. Now as he lay grievously injured it was almost as if there was a telepathic connection between father and son. He murmurs,

"You must believe, boy. You must believe."

Indiana takes a deep breath and steps into the void. Instead of falling he finds his feet firmly planted on a bridge - narrow - but a solid bridge nonetheless that spans the width of the seemingly bottomless chasm.

You have to trust and believe in the unknown and the unseen. When you set a goal it first exists only exists in your mind's eye but this is perhaps the most important step in your goal achievement process.

"Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe."
St Augustine

The philosopher, William James also said that there is a law in psychology that if you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be and hold that picture there long enough, you will achieve what you are thinking. The challenge is to hold onto your vision, to keep your faith.

One of my mentors, Dr Topher Morrison, favourite sayings is to make life a magnificent adventure. I'm sure Indiana Jones would agree. So as you go about your tasks today be bold, be adventurous and remember:

"Take a chance! All life is a chance. The person who goes the furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare."
Dale Carnegie

Indiana Jones Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade goal goal achiever goal achievement faith passion fear decision

Attracting Wealth and Millionaire Secrets

The video above is an extract from Donny Deustch's show titled "Million Secrets". Click HERE if you cannot see the video.

It shows Dr Joe Vitale explaining the process of attracting wealth.

In this video it is easy to see how perhaps Dr Joe Vitale got his nickname "Mr Fire" for he is certainly fired up about this topic.

So that you can really digest his message here is a summary of Dr Joe Vitale's five-step process for attracting wealth.

1. Know What You Don't Want

This is perhaps the easiest step of all them all. Just ask anyone what they want and they'll usually start telling you what they don't want. People are very good at complaining about what they don't want but the problem with this is that you are putting energy into what you don't want and so you keep getting more of the same.

"If you don't like something change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain."
Maya Angelou

It's like having a restaurant that you visit on a regular basis. You hate certain dishes and you repeatedly bitch about those particular dishes yet when it's time to order you go right ahead and order those dishes because you haven't taken the time to figure out what you do like on the menu.

So identify what you don't want so that you can be clear on what you do want and focus your attention on these things.

2. Check Your Intentions

When you state your intentions you re-align your body and your mind to go in the direction of a new target.

Think of a radio. Turn it own and start turning the frequency dial. As you do this you will hear static, you may sometimes hear overlapping stations, and you will also hear voices and or music as clear as a bell.

This happens when we tune into the right frequency. The same thing happens with your thoughts. You can direct your thoughts so that they tune into the thoughts and ideas that will move you forwards in the direction of your goal.

With a radio, if I told you the frequency you could find a particular station then it would be a relatively easy thing for you to find that particular station by aligning the dial on your radio with that particular frequency.

Goal achievement operates in a similar manner. State your intentions but ensure that you are in complete harmony with your intentions or else you will not succeed.

"You cannot change anything in your life with intention alone, which can become a watered-down, occasional hope that you'll get to tomorrow. Intention without action is useless."
Caroline Myss, Author of "Entering The Castle"

3. Get Clear

Janet Attwood, author of "The Passion Test - The Effortless Path to Discovering Your Destiny" said that,

"When you are clear, what you want will show up in your life, and only to the extent you are clear."

The problem is as Dr Joe Vitale points out is that many people have counter beliefs and, to compound matters further, they don't even know that have them.

The result is that, until the "get clear" they will continue to unwittingly sabotage their efforts.

Most people don't know they have counter beliefs within themselves.

"Because you counter the majority of your thoughts with opposing thoughts, you believe that you are not powerful.

When you no longer split your flow of energy with contradictory thoughts, you will know your power."
Abraham-Hicks

4. "Nevelize" Your Goal

These steps are getting progressively more challenging but it so important to follow them through. Are you beginning to see how if just one of these steps was not properly completed that it is unlikely for you to achieve your goals.

So for step four you need to use your imagination and feel what it would be like to already have what you want.

Now, I said that this is challenging but it also pleasurable. Just think of what you want, what you really want and then imagine you have it.

For instance, when I think of my dream home I visualise myself walking through my home and I take in the sights of what would be before me as I moved through the house. I can see the trees overhanging the back garden as I look out the kitchen window. I can feel the water flowing over my hands as I prepare some vegetables for a meal.

As I open the door leading to the patio and front garden I can hear the pool making little gurgling sounds and I can see the reflection of the sunlight sparkling on the water. I can feel the warmth of the sun on my face as I turn my face skywards.

As I go back inside and up the stairs into my bedroom I notice how light and airy the room is. I open the door leading to the balcony and I can clearly hear the waves beating against the shore. As I walk out onto the balcony I can detect a slight tanginess in the air.

I could go and on but I'm sure you get the picture. You've got to get emotionally involved with what you desire. This will accelerate what you want towards you.

5. Let Go While Taking Inspired Action

Then, despite saying you've got to get emotionally involved with what you want, you've also got to let go of your attachment to the end result. If you are over-attached to the end result you are really expressing fear rather than your passion or desire for what you want.

Fear moves you away from your goals.

Fear can also paralyse you at a time when you critically need to take action to achieve your goals. Passion is like fuel so keep your passion alive. Feed your passion. It will keep you internally motivated or inspired to move in the direction of your goal.

When you erase fear a sense of calm takes over you and in that calmness you will receive directions telling you how to proceed step-by-step. Sometimes those steps may seem counterintuitive but it is your very voice of intuition that is reaching out to you and guiding you.

The thing is you have to learn how to trust that voice of intuition.

There is another reason why we need to have a certain detachment regarding the outcome of what we are striving towards. As Sandra Ann Taylor, author of "Quantum Success" explains:

"Sometimes the Universe doesn't give us exactly what we want when we want it, because there's actually something better down the road."

Dr Joe Vitale his friend and colleague Mark Ryan hosted a powerful teleseminar recently on the subject of Attracting Wealth. You can listen to the interview by clicking the link below.

Attract Wealth

Feel free to share this interview.

attracting wealth millionaire secrets Joe Vitale intention passion intuition goal

FREE Guided Visualisation for Overcoming Fear

As a follow-up to my post yesterday on "The Key to Overcoming Fear" I'd like to offer you the gift of a Guided Visualisation to Overcome Fear.

You can listen to this guided visualisation by clicking the play button of the audio player below.



Alternatively, you can click the link below which will open into an AudioPostcard.

Guided Visualisation AudioPostcard

Please feel free to share this visualisation with a friend.