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Do you feel you need to make a major life change but you don’t know what to do?

Are you scared to commit because you may fail or waste a lot of time and energy?

And what would it be like to ditch work to become a professional athlete?

This time we’re talking with Dan McLaughlin of The Dan Plan. He’s committed to practicing golf 10,000 hours over the next six years to become a PGA pro.

That’s six hours a day, six days a week for the next six years!

Listen as he discusses some ways that you can navigate the bumpy road of committing to a change.

In this interview:

• What is The Dan Plan?
• Does talent matter?
• What to do when there are no safe bets
• Wanting to make a change but not knowing what to do
• Does passion make a difference?
• One thing you can do everyday to change your life
• What separates the amateurs from the pros
• What’s driving you?

About Dan McLaughlin and The Dan Plan

WHAT IS THE DAN PLAN?

It’s a project in transformation. An experiment in potential and possibilities. Through 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice,” Dan, who currently has minimal golf experience, plans on becoming a professional golfer. But the plan isn’t really about golf: through this process, Dan hopes to prove to himself and others that it’s never too late to start a new pursuit in life.

WHO IS DAN?

Dan is an average man by most standards. He’s a 30-year-old commercial photographer with no previous experience as a competitive athlete, nor is he in particularly good physical condition. Dan is slightly under average height and weight, has never played a full 18 holes of golf, and has only been to a driving range a handful of times. He’s not even sure if he’s a left-or right-handed golfer. Dan currently resides in Portland, Oregon.

WHY?

Through his journey Dan hopes to inspire others to start exploring the possibilities life affords them. Though his isn’t an easy endeavor and is quite possibly impossible, if it inspires even one person to quit their day job and find happiness in their own plan, then the Dan Plan is a success.

THE DETAILS

On April 5th, 2010, Dan quit his day job as a commercial photographer and began The Dan Plan. Logging in 30-plus hours a week he will hit the 10,000 hour milestone by November of 2015. During this time, Dan plans to develop his skills through deliberate practice, eventually winning amateur events and obtaining his PGA Tour card through a successful appearance in the PGA Tour’s Qualifying School, or “Q-School”.

THE THEORY

Talent has little to do with success. According to research conducted by Dr. K. Anders Ericsson, Professor of Psychology at Florida State University, “Elite performers engage in ‘deliberate practice’–an effortful activity designed to improve target performance.” Dr. Ericsson’s studies, made popular through Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers and Geoff Colvin’s Talent is Overrated, have found that in order to excel in a field, roughly 10,000 hours of “stretching yourself beyond what you can currently do” is required. “I think you’re the right astronaut for this mission,” Dr. Ericsson said about The Dan Plan.

Click here to visit Dan’s site.

Brad was up the creek without a paddle. That’s what he thought anyway.

Like many guys who work with me, Brad was feeling stuck. He was lost — there seemed to be no available options.

When we discussed solutions, Brad was quick to point out “how” they may not work. The ideas were shot down with blazing speed and accuracy. Brad was left holding a warm gun and a chilling terror in his belly.

HOW Was He Going to Get Out of This Rut?

There is the villain. Did you catch it?

Brad was solely focusing on “The How.” Not knowing “how” he was going to move forward kept him stuck. Brad needed to know “how” he was going to move forward was a sure thing.

Brad needed to feel safe above all else.He needed to have it all figured out before he would take any steps forward.

If “The How” didn’t pass his scrutiny, then “The What” was tossed aside. Sound familiar?

What is “The What”?

The What is what you want. It’s the desired outcome. It’s the hunch. It’s the thing that lights you up. It’s the tiny flame flickering in your soul. It’s the bold idea that needs to be nurtured and trusted.

In my personal and professional experience (and from watching ordinary folks accomplish some amazing feats), I’ve noticed that “The What” is — by far — more critical than “The How.”

Committing to The What — what you want — separates the men from the boys. Allowing The How to be the roadblock is a symptom of small thinking.

Shifting the Focus

I challenged Brad.

“Let’s play a game. Let’s pretend you don’t have to know how you’ll get there. Let’s even pretend it’s completely okay to screw the whole thing up. What do you want to do?”

He had a few ideas, some of which made him smile. He quickly wanted to shoot these ideas down. I reminded him that we were simply playing a game.

Over the next few sessions we cut through the weeds and honed in on what he truly wanted. Something that was exciting, a little daring but also realistic. He really didn’t know how he was going to arrive at the outcome, but we didn’t let that stop us.

We trusted it — and that’s when the real fun started.

Rubber, Meet the Road

I challenged Brad to talk about his idea with his supportive friends and co-workers. He felt vulnerable revealing his idea without “the perfect plan” to back it up. He didn’t want others to shoot it down.

He sacked up and did it anyway.

The more he talked about what he wanted, the more two amazing things began to happen:

First, he began to get more comfortable with the idea. It didn’t seem so scary anymore. The tiny flame was finding fuel and air.

Second, he was offered constructive opportunities — people to meet, solutions to emulate, resources to explore.

By speaking about what he wanted, The How constructed itself. The next steps became obvious and I held Brad accountable to follow through.

Brad is well on his way to reaching his desired outcome. He is no longer stuck. He is lit up. He feels alive.

So What?

The bottom line is that “how” we do something is less important than “what” we want to do. If we choose to squash what we want because we lack the perfect plan, we end up going nowhere. We die inside.

By focusing on what we want and speaking it in the world, ideas and solutions come to us. Not all of them will be great. But we can let go of the constipating burden to figure it all out ourselves.

Following through on the commitment, we create a plan and execute.

What About You?

Are you stuck with seemingly few options?

Are you exhausted from trying to have it all figured out?

If so, CLICK HERE to fill out a coaching questionnaire. We’ll set up a time for a free 30 minute assessment and discuss some ways for you to get out of your rut.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Remember to have fun,

Tripp

Special thanks to Adam S Doyle for the artwork

I was on a coaching call with my client Neil. He was complaining. He wasn’t fired up about anything. He couldn’t remember how to have fun anymore. He wasn’t doing anything that gave his life some sense of meaning. (BTW Neil isn’t his real name)

He was going on and on until I stopped him with a question…

“Hey Neil, what do you want?”

“Huh?” he said.

“If a genie popped out of a bottle, would you be able to tell him what you truly wanted? Are you prepared for that opportunity?”

He was dumbfounded. It seems so simple — to know what we want. But Neil had honed his ability to bitch and moan instead of grooming his list of desires.

The result? Neil wasn’t leading his life.

He’s not alone. It’s one of the reasons why so many of us feel lost. We don’t know what the hell we want! How can we possibly expect to feel satisfied or fulfilled?

Do we really believe that we can blindly walk into a restaurant (aka The Universe) and get a satisfying, fulfilling meal by having everyone else figure out what we want for us?

(Cue game-show loser buzzing sound)

Which begs the question — Why is it so hard to know what we want?

My theory is that “owning” what we want can be scary. We can get our hopes up and then get shot down. We can be rejected. Judged. Pooped on.

For many guys, it’s easier (and safer) to simply go with the flow and take whatever comes along instead of plotting their own course. It’s easier to give the reins to everyone else.

Knowing what you want in a given situation is the key to being the leader of your life.

Neil was ready to take this leadership role. He was tired of mindlessly going with the flow. He could see that it was his responsibility to tap into what he wanted. And I mean what he really wanted — beyond a cold beer after mowing the yard or the swimsuit edition springing to life in the shower.

I walked Neil through a simple and fun process to clarify what would light him up in every area of his life. As a result we had the building blocks for a measurable, tangible vision.

He was relieved to find that in some ways his ideal life was very close. And in others there was work to be done. As his coach, I’m now holding him accountable to do the things *he* is choosing to do to close the gap.

Neil is now out of the fog. He’s no longer bitching and moaning and complaining. He’s actually doing something about it and having fun in the process. He’s leading his life.

So…

What about you?

Are you bitching and moaning and complaining?

Are you ready to clarify what you truly want?

Are you ready to close the gap between where you are and where you’d really like to be?

If so, click here to fill out a coaching questionnaire and we’ll start this process today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Remember to have fun,

Tripp