Tiger Woods and "Mary had a little lamb"

A client shared a wonderful insight with me yesterday as we were 'rehearsing' for an important conversation he needed to have with someone. We were looking at each component of the conversation in a very detailed manner, working on the precise phrasing to serve him best. I think it was a little uncomfortable for him at first because I was forcing him to be so deliberate about it.

But then it came - the light bulb moment! "I get it!" he shouted. "It's like Tiger Woods!"

It is?! Uh-um, I mean, RIGHT, it IS! How so?

"Well, when Tiger practices," he continued, "he's very conscious of each and every element of his game. He OWNS the details and doesn't quit until he gets them exactly right. And he does this so that when it's tournament time, he can let his UNconscious take over - so he can just play his game ... without getting too tense ... without getting too mental.

"So he does this thing where right before he hits the ball, he sings a bit of 'Mary had a little lamb' to himself. It's his way of getting out of his own way so that his autopilot can take over.

"That's what we're doing in this conversation, aren't we, Barry?" he asked. "We're locking in the details now so when I actually have this conversation, I won't over-think it; I won't be too tense; it'll just flow, right?!"

Honestly, I hadn't thought about it that way before. But it made sense. And I see an even broader applicability of this Lesson Learned ... for myself! I'm speaking at a conference next week. I've prepared well. And I'm ready. But now I'm even more ready because on my way up to the front of the room on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, I'm going to be singing a little nursery rhyme to myself ... and then just let the presentation flow!

... it made the children laugh and play to see a lamb at school!