and that you are trying. But it’s how long I get
upset for or how intensely I react, how quickly
I can look at it with perspective. These are the
factors that determine how quickly you can
move on or learn from it or overcome it.
Do you recommend setting goals?
Lahiri: You can set goals for sure. I feel you
have to set two goals. You set long term goals
or yearly goals or five-year goals, and then you
set mini goals, that is measurable, tangible. To
measure in your own mind, your own progress
with the work you’re putting in, that’s very
important because that gives you a perspective
of where you are going.
Anirban Lahiri. Photo by Stan Badz/PGA Tour
Has meditation helped you improve your golf
game?
Anirban Lahiri: Yes, understanding that you are
always going to be in the process. With Vipassana
meditation you’re trying to stay connected
to yourself. What you’re trying to do through
meditation and through sources of mental
training, you’re in the process of living out your
life. I’m not a fatalist but I definitely believe in
going through what I need to do, with the best I
can do. And then accepting, the outcome could
be a positive or negative, but it’s just an outcome
at the end of the day and you have to accept it.
Embrace it whether it’s a win or a miss cut. And
I think that is the only thing that can take you
forward and to understand how that works, you
need to have a certain level of consciousness
or certain level of awareness about yourself.
Vipassana meditation helps you get to that point
because otherwise, you’re stuck in a reaction
cycle instead of being in an action cycle.
Did you get more upset before training in
meditation?
Lahiri: Absolutely, I still get upset on the course
and that’s a healthy thing, as it reflects your care
48
Destination Golf .TRAVEL
Do you feel you can control what’s going to
happen during the round?
Johnson: Control what you can control. And that
means everything: from how you walk, how you
talk, how you’re walking to the ball, how many
swings you take, how many looks you take, things
you can control. After that, it’s irrelevant.
Cary Valentine is a best-selling author, sports journalist,
expert mental game and peak performance coach (of
the Champion Your Inner Game system) to NCAA golf
teams, PGA pros and amateurs. Cary interviews top PGA
pros about how they prepare mentally and spiritually for
competition and keep focused between the ropes and off
the course as well. He lives in Maui, Hawaii with his family.
Contact: Cary Valentine
[email protected]
808.212.9340