Did you know Myrtle Beach is the “Putt-Putt Capital of the World?” Because I sure didn’t, when my family moved there from Phoenix in 2006. In total, there are 50 courses in less than a 60-mile radius, which means there’s practically one on every corner. It took me about a decade, but I’ve played pretty much all of them.

If you’ve never played putt-putt before, also known as miniature golf, it’s just the putting aspect of the game of golf. The goal is to get the ball in the hole with the least number of shots and avoid any obstacles that could keep you from achieving that. Some of these obstacles could be as small as a little hill or as big as a giant boulder. My objective though when I play putt-putt? Get a hole in one on every hole.

Every year, you’ll have both objectives and obstacles. The key to achieving one and avoiding the other is your ability to visualize the journey from start to finish. This blog post will show you how to use visualization to overcome your obstacles in life and get the success you want.

LESSON ONE: To visualize your success, begin with the end.

If you’re trying for true greatness in anything, you’ve got to already know the end of the story. You have to visualize yourself winning the championship at the end of the season before you even start game one. And if you can’t visualize the end of your story, then you’re not ready to read the book.

What do I mean by that? I mean see yourself doing the thing you set out to do before you even do it. It’s imagining, with specific detail, what that end result will look like. It’s like reverse engineering your goal by starting with how you want things to end and then working your way backward to figuring out what steps you need to take to get there. 

In putt-putt, it’s when you draw an imaginary line and visualize the path of the ball to the hole. This is key to overcoming the challenges you will face in the future.

LESSON TWO: To achieve your objective, anticipate the breaks and avoid the obstacles.

A season is long! The longer the season, the higher potential for problems. A championship team can get derailed for a number of reasons both on and off the court. So how do you respond to tough breaks during the season? Do your problems give you power or paralyze?

In putt-putt, a break is an amount a putt moves from right to left, or left to right, on a green. If you don’t anticipate these breaks, your ball could take a very unexpected turn for the worst. Along with visualization, anticipation is vital to your success.

What’s the worst thing that could happen to your team this year? How are you prepared to handle it? Some problems (like injuries) are unavoidable, but your attention to every detail on the journey is manageable. A championship team doesn’t buckle when they’re forced to rely on a backup plan.

So what’s left then? The final things that will prohibit you from achieving success are the obstacles in your way. The first obstacle is purely mental (all in your head) and the second is a result of your actions (the decisions you make). Most of these challenges are easily avoidable, but only if you visualize your journey from start to finish.