Rory McIlroy knows he is not his meatloaf!
In yesterday’s blog post, we talked about how understanding that I was not the meatloaf I made led to a relationship full of loving honesty. As amazing as that benefit is, what if there were even more benefits to this kind of honest reflection of ourselves? We believe Rory McIlroy may understand that he is not his “meatloaf”!
Rory McIlroy, one of the best golf players in the world, was interviewed by the press on Tuesday, April 9 about the upcoming Masters tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club. One of the interviewers asked him about his preparations for this tournament, and Rory spoke quite a bit about his the mental game he has been working on behind the scenes working up to the big event next week. For those of you who aren’t golf fans, the Masters are like the “Superbowl” of the golf world, so pressure to do well and stress levels are likely high for most who are involved. But McIlroy seems to be taking a different tactic.
“My mindset is definitely different. I’m not getting ahead of myself, I’m not thinking about the tee shot on Thursday, or what is to come later this week…I would dearly love to win this tournament…but if that doesn’t happen, that’s fine…I’m happy where I am. Body, mind, game.”
McIlroy also recommends a few books during his interview that Centered Recovery draws inspiration from for use in psychoeducational classes: The Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino, and Ego is the Enemy, by Ryan Holliday. He states that he knows there is a difference between wanting to win and needing to win to be okay with himself and where he is in his life. He notes that “small changes in attitude” have been instrumental in helping him in his “lifelong journey to improve and learn”.
“It’s not as if I’m coming here not to try to win the golf tournament, but I know if I have the right attitude and I have my goals that I want to achieve this year, the byproduct of that could be winning this golf tournament…I think the big thing has been my, “I am not my score, I am not my results…that’s perspective, it’s perception. I always talk about these “P’s” I try to practice…and that’s helped.”
It seems as if McIlroy understanding his worth is not just what he can produce on the golf course may actually help him improve his game. Without stress and worry about what might happen if he isn’t able to win, he’s able to relax into the game and remember what he knows about the game—that’s definitely already winning in our books! We suspect that regardless of how well Rory plays over the next week, he will definitely still be okay.
