“What if?” may be the most powerful question you can ask because it has the potential to:

1. Generate new possibilities
2. Trigger new action steps
3. Break unproductive patterns

Like all the Human Performance Laws and insights I teach in the Wired to Win© program the “what if?” question always produces results and the result you get will be in line with how you use it. When used negatively this question sounds like:

• “What if I can’t do this?”
• “What if I mess this up”
• “What if this doesn’t work”
• “What if I look bad?”
• “What if I bogey this hole?”, what if?, what if? What if?…

and automatically produces:

1. Tension
2. Doubt
3. Fear
4. Poor shots
5. Lack of Confidence
6. Tentative golf swings that lack of power and rhythm

Patti is a 12 handicap who demeans and judges herself on the golf course when things don’t go her way. Sometimes she approaches shots with a fear that she might “mess up” and as a result, she often does! In addition, her enjoyment level drops and she plays her rounds without a positive flow of emotion. This is the power of “what if?” I asked Patti to use “what if?” in a more constructive manner by asking questions like, “What if I hit this shot exactly the way I want to?” and “What if I enjoyed myself regardless of the outcome of this shot?” Her answers created new thoughts and feelings that were more positive and more relaxing. The result; lower scores and more fulfilling rounds of golf.

What if you changed the way you used the question?

What if you decided to use it to create more of what you want instead of more of what you don’t want? What if?

Try this experiment. Next time you feel any doubt, fear, pressure or tension stop and ask yourself one of the following:

• What if I was clear right now? What would I do?
• What if I was confident right now? How would I act?
• What if I hit this golf shot just the way I really want to?
• What if I took a smooth rhythmical swing right now?
• What if I was totally confident right now? What would I look like?
• What if I didn’t give in to my habitual negativity?
• What if I _______________________ (fill in the blank) right now?

What if?…two simple words that can help you focus on the possibilities rather than fall into the trap of old negative habits.

What if you did things differently today?