Concentrate, focus, look at the ball, check my grip, feel loose, carry the club slowly backward, and stare at the number on the ball, follow-through: concentrate - whack! My golf ball leaves the tee as my focus sharpens at the ground where the golf ball once rested. I raise my head as my driver follows through to my left shoulder and search the center of the fairway for the expected outcome. To my dismay, I catch a white streak hooking sharply left into the environmentally sensitive unplayable grassland on the first fairway of the Circling Raven Golf Club at the Coeur d'Alene Casino Resort - mulligan.

I quickly turn to scan the course in hope that no one saw my dismal display of golf talent. I then reload by reaching into my pocket, remove my second $4 golf ball and place it on the tee.

I follow the same ritual performed minutes prior - whack! This time I immediately look left expecting the resulting hook as the ball leaves the tee. I often remember the layman's definition of insanity and often recite it to my clients. "The definition of insanity is repeating the same act over and over expecting a different outcome." My second ball enters the hazard at precisely the same place my first ball did. I am insane!

Is there help for my golf game? There might be if I use the tools supplied to me by the science of performance. What earns one the opportunity to play PGA golf, become a prima ballerina, an astronaut, an excellent skier or chess player? Sports psychology examines successful people and determines commonalities in their success. Successful people in business, academics, science, sports and in life are motivated, have great imagination and imagery, have sharp focus and accept criticism. Psychology aids us to become better at our art, sport, job, trade, hobby or spiritual dedication if we listen to the science.

Motivation - we are motivated either internally (intrinsically) or externally (extrinsically). Intrinsic motivation allows us to achieve a task or help another because we feel it is the, "right thing to do," and we gain little or no reward extrinsically. Extrinsic rewards offers an external or visual reward for our work; a paycheck for working, candy for being quiet in the store, praise or press for giving money to charity. Successful individuals are motivated intrinsically and practice, work or perform not for external reward but because success feels good.

Motivation outperforms talent. A study of outstanding scholars, athletes and artists found that all were highly motivated and self-disciplined, willing to dedicate hours every day to the pursuit of their goals. These superstar achievers were distinguished not so much by their extraordinary natural talent as by their extraordinary daily discipline. Great achievement, it seems, mixes a teaspoon of inspiration with a gallon of perspiration (Myers, 2008).

Golf - OK, I play golf three times a year. I expect to shoot in the 70s as I did in my youth but without motivation and time to practice daily, my outcome of 89 is expected.

Cohesion - working together as a group or team to achieve a shared task or become socially connected. Being part of a team allows us to share our workload. In sports, we gain trust in our teammates and expect them to be there when needed. A police officer expects the same from her partner. Working in isolation excludes the natural world. In this world, there are people - some we trust and some we do not. The adage, "keep your friends close and your enemies closer," is a defeatist argument. I suggest, "Keep your friends close and disregard your enemies."

Teams and cohesion encompass people we trust and can count on. Successful people keep their team close to them and gain energy from the people they trust. They cheer when a teammate succeeds and feels down when a coworker or teammate becomes injured or struggles in their task. A team members jobs is to support their team.

Imagery - visualizing the world as you wish it to be. Now, if I am taking my midterm test and I am afraid I will fail, I visualize my failure and fulfill that prophecy - test anxiety. If I study (a must for success) and visualize the A on the paper, my chance for success will increase. Furthermore, while studying, I focus and visualize the questions I believe will be on the test I can create a photo memory of the information and will recall the information by recalling the visualization.

Golf - I did not visualize the golf ball sailing down the fairway. My brain was stuck in the semantics of the golf swing and not focused on the outcome. Focusing on the outcome might have produced a different result.

Attention focus - blocking out all outside influences and focusing on the task at-hand. Imagine what Kobe, Tiger, LeBron or the person operating the mechanical arm on the robot placing the cap on the leaking Louisiana oil rig might be thinking prior to shooting a free-throw, hitting a putt or saving the gulf coast? Leaving the outside world outside takes practice. Here is how it works. You lay your head on the pillow prior to falling asleep. After three or four minutes, you nod off and your world goes silent. The phone rings and you startle awake hearing the television, air-conditioning buzzing and dogs barking outside. In stage one sleep, your attention focuses on sleep and you block out the world. Great athletes, focused individuals and surgeons are good at this. The crowd disappears, the gravity of the task diminishes and emotion becomes void. They enter a hypnotic state of alertness resembling stage one sleep and can focus on difficult tasks easily.

Golf - after hitting the first ball into the rough, I quickly turn to see if anyone is watching. My attention becomes misdirected and unfocused. My concern is to protect against embarrassment and not for success. My speed at re-teeing signified repairing a wrong, fixing an error and redeeming myself as a golfer. The result was repeated failure.

Internal monologue - maintaining positive thoughts during competition by keeping a running conversation in one's mind. Now things really get psychological. Positive self-talk changes one's perspective. Truly believing I can hit a golf ball straight increases the odds of the ball landing in the center of the fairway. Positive self-talk changes people's lives. Believing a business will succeed, that our art is a true representation of our inner being, that we are good enough to be first-string and that we are "really" a good person allows us to feel success. We must first believe to know the truth. Negative self-talk creates failure.

Criticism - understanding when we fail and accepting the failure allows for growth. After hitting my second ball into the rough my father offers, "I wouldn't do that again if I were you." I turn and smile at his sarcasm and accept his challenge. I take a step back, close my eyes, visualize the ball heading straight down the fairway, take a deep breath, relax and hit the ball dead center, 275 yards down the course. I offer another smile to my dad and nod, "Thanks for the advice."

Bill Rutherford is a psychotherapist, public speaker, elementary school counselor, adjunct college psychology instructor and executive chef, and owner of Rutherford Education Group. Please e-mail him at bprutherford@hotmail.com and check out www.foodforthoughtcda.com.