Want to boost your mental agility? It’s time to think like a golfer! Yep, that's right - Elaine Fox reminds us that for each problem life throws at us, we need to be using the right golf club. Different problem, different club.
LINKS
CREDITS
Host: Casey Donovan @caseydonovan88
Writer: Amy Molloy @amymolloy
Executive Producer: Anna Henvest
Editor: Adrian Walton
Listen to more great podcasts at novapodcasts.com.au
Welcome back to another episode of The Space, a mindfulness podcast for Everyone. I'm Casey Donovan with the words of Amy Malloy. To day, we're going to talk about mental agility and why you should think of your happiness as a set of golf clubs. This comparison comes from Elaine Fox, author of the book Switchcraft, The Hidden Power of Mental Agility. First of all, what is mental agility. It's the capacity to respond to events in a flexible way, and we're not very good at it. Most of us have safety barriers, says Elaine. When we feel anxious or threatened, we tend to react in the same way. Some of our behaviors are healthy, like going for a run or meeting with our mates. Some of our tactics aren't great, like having a few too many margaritas. The problem with all safety behavior is it's not very agile. We rely on it, we depend on it, we go there even if it isn't the best solution. This is where the golf clubs come in. There's no one size fits all solution to life's problems, says Elaine. She likes a metaphor of using different clubs on the golf course. You need a different club. Whether you're hitting a long shot or swinging from a bunker. Life is exactly like that too. We're going to be faced with different kinds of problems and should have a range of tools in coping mechanisms. When you're stressed, stop and ask yourself. Am I using the right club? Should I keep pursuing the same thought, feeling or action or do I need to rethink my strategy? Is this a safety behavior that I'm doing on autopilot? And is it really working for me? If you're a parent, this idea is especially useful. It can also help to ditch the guilt. Acting that way might work on a Monday and totally bomb on a Tuesday. You're not failing, you're just using the wrong club for this situation. Of course, there will be days when you're completely off your game, your ball is in the lake, you can't hit straight. This is where you fall back on radical acceptance. Some days you'll lose your ball in the grass. Other days you'll hit a hole in one space out