I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

This is about training my mind to be resilient to outside influence. To get to a point where good choices are made without thinking. I liken this to my golf practice today. I was frustrated with how some shots were going. Then I realized that I just needed to let go of all the thoughts and swing. I’ve swung a club thousands of times already either on the course or in practice.

When I let go my ball was flying farther and straighter. I’ve noticed this in rounds. Every bad shot could be tied to a thought in my back swing. External noise doesn’t bother me. Internal noise does. This is why people go to the range and have wonderful shots that don’t translate to the course. The range shots are thoughtless and free. The course shots are filled with all sorts of thoughts of hope and desire and watch that bunker or those trees. I need to learn to just let go.