I play golf like millions of people around the world. Although I am very busy with work/business, I do take some time out when the opportunity presents to hit the links and get in a round of golf. I am a member at one of the toughest golf courses in Canada (top 5 based on ratings).

The more that I play the more that I find there are many parallels between golf and business. I have given this some thought over the past couple of weeks as I just returned from a golf vacation with some friends down in Phoenix, Arizona.

Why am I still mediocre at golf? Why was I able to achieve success in business in my first year whereas golf has been a continual struggle?

My approach to the two was completely different when in fact I should be approaching the game of golf in the same way I have been approaching the game of business.

I have found out that....

(1) Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. People often times think they are doing themselves a favor by “getting out there and doing stuff”. But if you are practicing doing something wrong over and over you will only become good at doing something wrong. There is no sense hitting the driving range and hitting balls if you are not hitting the ball correctly. Same goes for business, if you are doing things wrong it will only emphasize your lack of success if you continue doing things wrong.

(2) A hard swing doesn’t lead to better results. In fact the opposite. The harder your work and the more energy you expend, the worse you will play. They say that the harder your swing the more difficult it is to hit the ball straight. An efficient, good tempo swing will produce the best results.

Seems counterintuitive, but it is the truth. Being efficient will lead to more results. Just because you worked hard to accomplish something doesn’t mean the same thing cannot be done in a much more efficient manner. The key to success is finding this efficiency.

(3) You can get worse by playing MORE! What?! This is the truth. Sometimes the more I play, the worse I become. This is why it is good to take breaks sometimes. The same goes for business, if you never take breaks and get away, your ideas seem to become stale and it is tough to look at anything related to your business with a “fresh stance”.

You always hear that those that are successful typically take a lot of vacations. This is the reason. You tend to get lost in your business and lose sight of the big picture if you don’t take a break.

(4) Ability and Intelligence are two different things. To succeed you have to find the happy medium. Golfers are not necessarily athletes. The are skilled at their trade and the more you treat the game as a sport in which you will thrive by being athletic, the more you will run into issues.

It is a game of intelligence as is business. The better you understand the game the better you will become. The more you read about how to “shape” a shot and how different types of swings can lead to different types of miscues, the better you will become.

If you want to be successful at business you need to read about it, plain and simple. You need to continually education through learning and then practicing what you learn through implementation. If you think you are just going to somehow “get it” one day without acquiring the underlying knowledge then you are going to have a much longer journey to your success.

(5) Better tools does not translate into more success. You can have the best new golf attire, you can have the most expensive clubs and balls in the world, but these tools are not going to lead you to success. Back when clubs were made of wood that driver accuracy on the PGA tour was better than it is today after 30 years and billions of dollars put into the technology.

The same goes for business. A tool will never replace a skillful understanding of what you are doing. Tools can make your business more efficient but having a tool will not lead to more success unless you know how to effectively leverage it. Tools typically make a marginal difference you in your business whereas your own personal activities and decision are what lead you to true success!

(6) The more frustrated irrational you get, the worse you play. You need to find your zen, your happy place...your point of relaxation. The more you frustrated in golf I get, the worse I become the less focus I have and the worse more score.

If you are in a rush to make money and get frustrated when you don’t achieve it in the first week, you are setting yourself up for failure. Making irrational decisions in business is the result of your reaction to a failure and will lead you to deeper failure. If you can approach a “bad shot” in a way that will allow you to learn from it and improve on it going forward, you will be much more successful.

Find your inner calmness and aim to be as rational as possible when making decisions. Your business will only benefit.

(7) The small stuff makes the biggest difference. If you can’t putt, you are doomed. If you putt three times on the same green, you are in big trouble.

Same thing goes for business...what you deem as the small stuff and unimportant may be the biggest things holding you back from success. Sure missing a putt on one hole may not seem like a lot, but it is cumulative. Miss 6 putts in a round that were “makable” and you have just shaved 6 strokes off of your handicap. People pay golf instructors big money to play better.

Take a look at some of your smaller and more trivial components of your business. Perhaps you are not giving your potential customers a quick enough response time. Perhaps you “join” button is in the wrong place. Perhaps you are not making enough of an effort with your customers after they buy. Small stuff can cumulatively add up to a big difference in golf and in business!

(8) Your Friends Can Help or Hurt You. If you play with people that are better than you, you become better. If you play with people that don't take it seriously and are just out there to hack up the course, then you are going to play worse.

The same goes for business. If you surround you people that do not support what you are doing and if you let that infiltrate your day to day activities, it is going to negatively impact your business. If you have a "positive vibe" around you and you have people that are supportive of what you are doing and HELP you achieve your goals, great things will happen.

Sometimes who you play with can make all the difference in the world!

I hope everyone enjoyed this post and can take some of my personal insights and apply them to their own business. Any feedback that you have is more than welcome...leave your comments below.