Strengthen by Working Smarter

The world has come forward to congratulate Dustin Johnson on winning the Masters golf tournament on Sunday. Johnson, the world's top player and a South Carolina native, dreamed as a little boy of one day wearing the green jacket. He envisioned strolling towards the 18th green, waving to the fans and then hearing CBS commentator Jim Nantz announce him as the new Masters champion. On Sunday afternoon, his dream came true, but not before a few setbacks and obstacles.

Johnson felt the sting of being so close to winning only to watch it escape his grasps on the most important day. He had to live with the perception of being unable to handle the pressure of the moment, not being savvy with an understanding of the rule book and not being able to work hard enough toward his goals. His dreams were about winning in Augusta, but his work habits never matched them.

Do yours? Do you dream of being the next Kobe Bryant, Bill Belichick or a high-profile CEO but don’t have the habits to match?

Work habits are something we can improve upon — even if we believe we work hard. And work habits do not mean working 23 out of the 24 hours in the day. What often prevents us from reaching our childhood dreams is we lack the understanding of how to work smarter, not always harder. Learning to work smarter lies within; it starts with an accurate self-appraisal of our strengths and weaknesses. Our first instinct to learn how to work smarter is to polish our weaknesses and strengthen our deficiencies. Yet, the best way to improve our work habits involves improving the areas we already exhibit as strengths. Strength builds strength in any team, as well as any individual. Yes, we must work hard to improve areas of weaknesses, but by ignoring the areas of strength, we tend to become weaker in two areas, not just one.

Johnson is the perfect example of the strength that builds strength when working smarter. He always was a long hitter, a powerful player off the tee, but he strengthened a strength by becoming straight and long. Johnson hit almost every fairway at Augusta with incredible length making the course play smaller, allowing him to hit his approach shot in the ideal location. He was not erratic and powerful; he became powerful and consistent. Bryson DeChambeau, the U.S. Open champion, was boasting about how the course would play small with his power and how par at the Masters for him would be five below the normal number. No one would worked harder at his craft than DeChambeau; yet, he learned a powerful lesson, finishing tied for 21st in a tournament he was the odds-on favorite to win. Simply put, working hard does not matter if you don't work smart.

Johnson learned this from suffering many setbacks. Let's hope next year DeChambeau learns the same thing.

Ask yourself today, what are your areas of strength, and how can you improve upon them by working smarter?

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