478th Time is the Charm

This past weekend, Englishman golfer Richard Bland, finally held up his first trophy after 20 years of playing professional golf on the European Tour. Over the last two decades Bland, 48, has started 477 tournaments without one single win…

Let that sink in for a minute…

Doing something you are so passionate about and you never actually end up at the top of the leaderboard for 20 years!

On the final hole in regulation, Bland sank a 25-foot birdie putt to take the lead followed by an ecstatic fist pump in celebration. After grabbing his ball from the hole, he buried his face in his hat to hide emotions. Years of hard-work, frustration and anguish poured out of him in that moment.   

After becoming the oldest first time winner on the European Tour, an emotional Bland stated, “I’ve done it.”

So what can we take from this not-so-“Bland” story?

An American friend of Bland’s sent him a text before his last round: One shot at a time, one hole at a time. “I just had that in my head all day, just make the dream come true…”

We see it often in our clinic, expressions of discouragement after not seeing results the next day. The aches and pains some of our ProActive family members deal with, like Bland, follow years of frustration and anguish before starting physical therapy. That’s where we have to remind ourselves: One shot at a time, one hole at a time.

The key element we learn from Richard Bland’s inspiring story is to NEVER GIVE UP.

Just because the results are not instantaneous, that does not mean your hard-work isn’t working! It’s a culmination of determination, proper treatment and patience. The results will reveal themselves before you know it: physically, mentally and emotionally.

Many people have been dealing with new aches and pains from quarantine life as well as getting back in to recreational activities because the warmer spring weather is finally here! The best plan of action is to hit those new pains and aches with a ProActive approach rather than a “Re”Active one…

So let’s not wait any longer! Get moving towards your goals: one shot at a time, one hole at a time.