#167 – Tiger Woods, Mental Strength & the Real Key to Consistency
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Episode Summary:
What makes Tiger Woods’ dominance at the 2000 U.S. Open more impressive than the 15-stroke margin? His mindset. In this reflective solo episode, Ian Hawkins explores Tiger’s legendary performance at Pebble Beach not just from a sporting lens, but through the lens of consistency, mental resilience, and identity.
Ian dissects Tiger’s post-victory comments, especially his focus on eliminating mental errors and staying consistent, rather than intimidating opponents. From there, the episode turns inward: how can you find your own version of that consistency? Ian shares powerful insights on uncovering your “100,000 hours” those hard-earned life experiences that reveal your strengths and purpose. This episode challenges listeners to reflect on their life’s golden thread and shows how aligning with your authentic identity leads to next-level performance, joy, and fulfillment.
About the Host:
Ian Hawkins is dedicated to showing how sports can transform lives. With extensive experience as an athlete, a coach, PE teacher, community volunteer, and manager at Fox Sports, Ian brings a wealth of knowledge to the podcast. His journey began in his backyard, mentored by his older brother, and has since evolved into coaching elite athletes and business leaders. Ian's commitment to sports and personal development is evident in his roles as a performance coach and active community member. Through "Sport Is Life," Ian shares inspiring stories and valuable lessons to help listeners apply sports principles to all areas of life.
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Transcript
was watching a video of Tiger Woods in
Speaker:his prime, winning the US Open at Pebble
Speaker:Beach by 15 strokes. Pure
Speaker:dominance. But what struck me wasn't just
Speaker:his performance, but it was what he said
Speaker:afterward, years down the track. When
Speaker:asked if he wanted to be feared, Tiger
Speaker:replied It's not about fear. I just want
Speaker:to be more consistent and avoid mental
Speaker:errors. In this episode, we're breaking
Speaker:down what that really means and how you
Speaker:can apply Tigers mindset to build your
Speaker:own consistency, mental strength, and
Speaker:high performance no matter what game
Speaker:you're playing.
Speaker:I'm Ian Hawkins and this is Sporty's
Speaker:life. The purpose of sport, as I
Speaker:see it, is to see your vision become a
Speaker:reality, find your voice, create
Speaker:strong connections and learn to trust
Speaker:your body.
Speaker:So funny story, I just recorded one of
Speaker:the best podcast episodes of all time,
Speaker:but I forgot to hit record. So even
Speaker:when you've got clear process
Speaker:and. And you
Speaker:perform it at your best. Sometimes you
Speaker:can miss a critical step like I did,
Speaker:which was record. So will try again. It's
Speaker:definitely not gonna be as good as the
Speaker:first version, but anyway, I'll try to
Speaker:see how we go. So I was watching a video
Speaker:this afternoon down at YouTube
Speaker:rabbit hole of sporting moments.
Speaker:And it was Tiger absolutely
Speaker:blitzing the field at the 2000 U.S.
Speaker:Openat Pebble Beach, one of the
Speaker:toughest courses out there. And the US
Speaker:Open was notorious for long, rough,
Speaker:challenging conditions. It's on the coast
Speaker:there. And he's blitzed
Speaker:the field by 15 strokes. He was
Speaker:unbelievable and the highlights really
Speaker:showed that. There's also some interviews
Speaker:with some of the the people that he beat
Speaker:for 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th names like
Speaker:Ernie Earls, Fred Couples.
Speaker:Padre Harrington.
Speaker:Yeah, talking about how they actually
Speaker:played pretty some pretty decent golf,
Speaker:but they were just so far off the pace it
Speaker:wasn't funny. There was also an
Speaker:interview with Marco Mirror talking about
Speaker:how he played the
Speaker:three practise rounds in the lead
Speaker:up to the Open and
Speaker:how he just remember being in awe of this
Speaker:guy that was just wasn't missing a shot.
Speaker:And he and he said, I remember thinking
Speaker:this guy is the greatest golfer that I've
Speaker:ever seen. He was just in that sort of
Speaker:zone at the time.
Speaker:And then part of the video was they were
Speaker:interviewing him further down the track
Speaker:and, and he said the interviewer asked
Speaker:him, did you want your competitors to
Speaker:fear you in 2000? And do you think that
Speaker:they did?No, thinking back
Speaker:then the amount of times when he was in
Speaker:contention on the final day of a major
Speaker:that he just found a way to win. I don't
Speaker:know fear was fear or whether they
Speaker:just resigned themselves to they were
Speaker:playing for second or whatever it was.
Speaker:But Tigers answer was interesting
Speaker:and he said it's not about implementing
Speaker:fear. He said.
Speaker:I would just want to be more consistent
Speaker:than them. So well, he mentions them.
Speaker:What he's really saying is I just want to
Speaker:be more consistent. He didn't make it
Speaker:about them. He's not trying to create
Speaker:fear in their head or implement fear.
Speaker:Like he said. He's like, if I can be more
Speaker:consistent, then there were
Speaker:reactions will be what they will be. And
Speaker:that's exactly what was happening, right?
Speaker:He's a level of consistency was crazy.
Speaker:He said something other than something
Speaker:else that was really interesting. He said
Speaker:he kind of like almost a throwaway line.
Speaker:He goes, I really shouldn't make any
Speaker:mental mental errors. Now at the
Speaker:time, like mentally so strong,
Speaker:unbelievably strong. But he's
Speaker:also been in training for that mental
Speaker:strength from a very, very young age.
Speaker:He. Was learning golf
Speaker:from the moment he could walk and his
Speaker:dad, who was a.
Speaker:He'd been in the army and was teaching
Speaker:him all these disciplines and.
Speaker:The mental strength are also like the
Speaker:strength of being a.
Speaker:A black man in the US,
Speaker:where golf wasn't really the sort of.
Speaker:Yeah, a lot of places just wouldn't have
Speaker:been able to play. And so he would have
Speaker:come across a whole lot of different
Speaker:reactions on the golf course that
Speaker:his dad helped him to to toughen up and
Speaker:and to to show just
Speaker:who he was and how good he could be.
Speaker:So what is it we can learn from that?
Speaker:Well.
Speaker:You hear, you hear people talk about the
Speaker:10,000 hours and, and for Tiger, it
Speaker:would have been so many more than 10,000
Speaker:hours, but not just from a golf
Speaker:perspective, but just that mental
Speaker:strength and the discipline he learned.
Speaker:And while I'm not sharing this so
Speaker:that you can be the best
Speaker:possible golfer, although you may be able
Speaker:to apply some of this to your golf, but
Speaker:this is about how you can be a high
Speaker:performer at an even higher level
Speaker:in the areas that you've got your not your
Speaker:10,000 hours, but your 100,000. And
Speaker:you might listen to this and say, oh,
Speaker:there's nothing I've got 100,000 hours
Speaker:for. Well, I want to tell you the
Speaker:absolutely have. There's a golden thread
Speaker:that runs through your life that there's
Speaker:repeated patterns, repeated ways of
Speaker:how you showed up the same, how you
Speaker:problem solved, how you faced the same
Speaker:challenges. They were
Speaker:different, but the same pattern was
Speaker:emerging. And it's the places of struggle
Speaker:that you've had and because you've done
Speaker:it alone for so much of your life.
Speaker:That you've been really resourceful and
Speaker:you've come up with solutions and you've
Speaker:adapted and but because it's a struggle,
Speaker:you still feel like you could be so much
Speaker:better. And you can. But this
Speaker:is. Where you find your,
Speaker:your absolute zone of genius, your
Speaker:your place of optimal effectiveness.
Speaker:Because you've you've done the 100,000
Speaker:hours, you've continued.
Speaker:The metaphor, like Tiger, he's
Speaker:hit that many, that many shots.
Speaker:That many swings of the club you've had,
Speaker:that many swings of the club of
Speaker:that particular challenge in your life.
Speaker:Now I'll give you an example.
Speaker:For me, I grew up being a
Speaker:naturally an extrovert
Speaker:that. Craved connection and
Speaker:attention. But I was a shy
Speaker:kid. I'd had that shyness reinforced. Oh,
Speaker:he's shy, you know, Like he's so quiet.
Speaker:All these different things, but in
Speaker:environments where I
Speaker:was. Bit
Speaker:cheeky, bit mischievous. I like I brought
Speaker:people together. I was a leader even from
Speaker:a young age because it just came
Speaker:naturally, but then put me in an
Speaker:environment where I wasn't comfortable
Speaker:starting school in front of adults.
Speaker:Where I didn't know people particularly
Speaker:well. Well, it was a massive,
Speaker:massive challenge. So I spent a lot of
Speaker:time observing the world and
Speaker:looking at other people Who.
Speaker:Were struggling and and I
Speaker:instinctively knew when people needed
Speaker:connection and when they needed.
Speaker:Encouragement and all of these things
Speaker:that I needed but I wasn't getting.
Speaker:I could see in an other people and
Speaker:I can remember different times in my life
Speaker:where I provide that for people that
Speaker:clearly needed those things
Speaker:because. Because you're 100,000 hoursis
Speaker:tied to that thing that you went through
Speaker:alone and and developed so much
Speaker:resilience and, and problem solving and
Speaker:so many skills and strategies
Speaker:that you don't want anyone else to have
Speaker:to go through that alone. And this is
Speaker:where you find alignment. This is where
Speaker:you find authenticity, and it's where you
Speaker:find purpose. And.
Speaker:I'm sure Tiger got so much purpose out of
Speaker:his golf. He was doing it for himself, of
Speaker:course, but. You think of.
Speaker:What he showed was possible
Speaker:for someone of his.
Speaker:Background. His
Speaker:heritage, his mum Thai pretty
Speaker:sure so he can correct me if I'm wrong
Speaker:and his dad Afro American and and the
Speaker:challenges he would have faced being a
Speaker:golfer in a in a country where that
Speaker:wasn't the norm and it's certainly in a
Speaker:lot of places wasn't even acceptable.
Speaker:So being able to show just what was
Speaker:possible for someone of his background
Speaker:and you look at the impact he had like.
Speaker:How could that not be purposeful for him?
Speaker:And your 100,000 hours is no different
Speaker:there. There is there is a an
Speaker:ability for you to have an impact that.
Speaker:Will help so many other people.
Speaker:And if you apply that to their
Speaker:performance, it's like when you show up
Speaker:in that authenticity, in that way that
Speaker:you operate the best, that that that part
Speaker:of your identity, the the
Speaker:part of your personality that it comes
Speaker:most natural. And it has been honed
Speaker:through these challenges where you've
Speaker:used these skills to get better and
Speaker:better and better. When you show up like
Speaker:that, then then that's where the
Speaker:consistency is going to come. That same
Speaker:level of consistency that Tiger had in the
Speaker:2000 U.S. Open. Not necessarily in
Speaker:your golf, of course, but in, but in what
Speaker:you do.
Speaker:Whatever your thing is.
Speaker:Now for me, it's conversation, it's
Speaker:bringing people together.
Speaker:Joining the dots, connecting people who
Speaker:need to be connected. Helping people to
Speaker:see themselves. In a much more
Speaker:empowered way. That's what I described. I
Speaker:didn't have, I didn't have that support,
Speaker:that encouragement that, that people
Speaker:there to lift me up. And, and so I've,
Speaker:I've always looked at the world through
Speaker:that lens. And there will be a lens that
Speaker:you look at through the world at as well.
Speaker:And the more you can find that
Speaker:authenticity, find your zone and show up
Speaker:more that way, you will find consistency
Speaker:in every area of your life. It's an
Speaker:absolute game changer and the amount of
Speaker:times in my career when
Speaker:I was trying to do or
Speaker:or think or like detail my way out of
Speaker:problems trying to work out how to fix
Speaker:something or how to do something. It's a
Speaker:complete opposite strategy for my
Speaker:natural personality type and my natural
Speaker:authenticity.
Speaker:And there's a formula for this.
Speaker:So go and do that.
Speaker:Timeline of your life that I've
Speaker:encouraged you to do before, just
Speaker:recording everything you can think of
Speaker:from the youngest age, what environments
Speaker:were you in? Who was there? What was
Speaker:happening? What were your struggles? What
Speaker:went well, what didn't go so well because
Speaker:it's particularly those earlier years.
Speaker:The pivotal things will come back to you
Speaker:in memories. And then keep looking
Speaker:through the timeline and look for the
Speaker:success and find what was good, find
Speaker:where the struggles are. And both of
Speaker:those areas are going to have clues to
Speaker:that golden thread to that part of you
Speaker:that. Was naturally well. And the
Speaker:place that it's going to show up, the
Speaker:challenge is it's also a place of
Speaker:contradiction because it comes so
Speaker:naturally to you. You'll have the
Speaker:thought, oh, that's just what I do. Like,
Speaker:isn't that what everyone does? Like
Speaker:you'll think it's not that big a deal.
Speaker:But then if you mention it to someone
Speaker:else that, you know, I'm able to see this
Speaker:and I'm able to see that I go, I can't do
Speaker:that. Like I hear it all the time when
Speaker:people talk about whether they're good at
Speaker:detail or they're good at innovation, all
Speaker:those things. I can't do those things
Speaker:naturally. The things that I need help
Speaker:with, I need support with. But again, put
Speaker:me in a room full of people and I've got
Speaker:to get out there and network and
Speaker:make conversation
Speaker:or connect people. You need to go speak
Speaker:to this person. Or like I could do that
Speaker:all day every day. Just come so naturally
Speaker:to me. So it's about
Speaker:finding where that golden thread runs and
Speaker:then bringing it to everyday life. That's
Speaker:where you find consistency, that's where
Speaker:you find fulfilment. Like I said, you'll
Speaker:find purpose. You'll find so much more
Speaker:joy out of your day to day
Speaker:performance will go to a whole other
Speaker:level. And people
Speaker:will notice. People will see the
Speaker:difference and you'll start getting
Speaker:encouragement and they'll start saying,
Speaker:wow, you're really good at that. You
Speaker:should do that here. Or what have you
Speaker:thought about this just. Because
Speaker:people, I love to see people thriving.
Speaker:When I was learning about public
Speaker:speaking, one of the best things I heard
Speaker:was the audience is
Speaker:willing you to succeed. In your head,
Speaker:you're thinking, I don't want to stuff
Speaker:this up, everyone's going to laugh at me,
Speaker:but the whole audience is willing you to
Speaker:succeed. And that's true in any
Speaker:situation. People want people to go well.
Speaker:So if you remember that. Then
Speaker:it changes so much about what you're
Speaker:worried about, what people are going to
Speaker:think and all these different things.
Speaker:They're not thinking that. And if they
Speaker:are making some sort of judgement in
Speaker:their head, it's actually a projection of
Speaker:their own. Self judgement, that is it
Speaker:Easy to say I know. Not so easy to
Speaker:actually. To
Speaker:move. Route but the more you can show
Speaker:up being just what comes most naturally
Speaker:to you, that most authentic part of you,
Speaker:the thing that when you're doing that
Speaker:your highest level gives you goosebumps,
Speaker:makes the hair stand up the back of your
Speaker:neck well then. Everything
Speaker:comes so much easier. And
Speaker:if you want to register your interest in
Speaker:my new profile tool that will help you
Speaker:find your. High performance
Speaker:identity. Then shoot me a note and I'll
Speaker:get make sure you're on the list to be
Speaker:one of the beta testers. You'll
Speaker:be the first to get the profile, you'll
Speaker:be first to get all of the video training
Speaker:that goes with that and.
Speaker:Yeah, for the first. Say
Speaker:5-5 people, they'll get it absolutely
Speaker:free. Is that something you're interested
Speaker:in? Let me know. And yeah,
Speaker:stay tuned For more information coming
Speaker:out about that over the next few months.
Speaker:Also, some other exciting news that I
Speaker:will share with you on the next episode.
Speaker:Yeah, something that will help you even
Speaker:further, and it's a pretty cool moment
Speaker:for the podcast as well. I'll share that
Speaker:with you next episode. See you then.
Speaker:You've taken the time to listen to this
Speaker:whole episode. Now it's time to take
Speaker:action. Commit to one thing you've
Speaker:learned today and make it happen. And to
Speaker:avoid any obstructions, join the Sporty
Speaker:Life movement by clicking on the link in
Speaker:the show notes.
