All of the storylines surrounding the 2009 Masters have been captured. Kenny Perry not sealing the deal, Tiger and Phil dueling to sixth place, Chad Campbell’s cute wife, and Angel Cabrera… The Duck, smiling his way to the cabin to collect his prize.
Amid all of the wasted laments for Tiger, Phil, Chad and Kenny was the brief and awkward little interview with Cabrera, conducted through an interpreter, that provided an insight to the victory.
Roberto de Vicenzo, a fellow Argentinian golfer and mentor to Cabrera, had given The Duck a gift shortly after Cabrera had won the 2007 US Open. De Vincenzo had lost the 1968 Masters by signing an incorrect scorecard and never made his way back to contention. With that in mind, he gave Cabrera a framed picture of his hand in a green jacket. Big deal, right? This little memento might have been the difference on Sunday.
How many times did Cabrera sit and look at that picture? How often did he imagine the joy of winning the Masters and bringing the title home to Argentina? His mentor, relieved and inspired. Could Cabrera, by simply visualizing the win in great detail and living the emotion of the moment, set himself up for the victory? Yes.
Visualization is one of the most powerful tools in success. All of the modern teachers of success talk about visualization and the concept has been around for thousands of years. Pick a goal, see the goal accomplished with as much detail as you can, and feel the emotion that comes with the accomplishment. Really feel it!
Joe Vitale, Jack Canfield, James Ray and others encourage people to do it daily. Make time for the process and get in to it. Your belief level should get to the point that you are no longer wanting the goal, because you feel as if you’ve already attained it. Dr. Denis Waitley says, “If you can go there in the mind, you’ll go there in the body.”
How many times has Angel Cabrera put on the green jacket before Sunday? Has he picked his ball from the hole and pumped his fist in victory a thousand times? Maybe more.
When the playoff started, Kenny Perry admitted to being nervous. “My right hand just fires a little quick in situations like that. I was nervous,” and as long as he continues to tell himself those things, they will continue to happen. If he plays the scene over in his head about mishitting two approach shots in a row, he’ll find himself runner-up again, if he’s lucky.
Meanwhile, Angel was banging shots off of trees, waddling with a purpose and having fun. “I was just enjoying the moments.” He had been there before so there was no need to be nervous. His hand in the green jacket.
Decide what you want. Pick a small goal if you like and visualize the goal already attained. Put as much detail with it as you can: hear the waves, smell the grass, feel the excitement and pump your fist. Life is waiting for you take it. What are you waiting for?
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