Friends of Dave #75: Keep Calm and Get Your Mojo Back

Jun 02, 2018

Learning to win again ain't easy. But before we talk about that....

We now have officially entered the summertime season and with it, I fear, is the return of the Millennial Monster Strollers. If you missed my rant on this troubling epidemic at the end of last summer, you can read up on it here or here. Consider yourself warned.....

Now, back to business....this week I happened to catch some interesting comments by golf legend Jack Nicklaus about the resurgent, and once unstoppable, Tiger Woods. After a publicly brutal stretch, Tiger now appears to be healthy (physically, mentally and spiritually) and back on track with his golf game. What Nicklaus said about it struck a chord with me:

"He has got to get through the barrier of not having done it for a while... When you haven't won that always happens, and that's human nature...I think he'll win when he believes it himself between his ears."

It's pretty simple: as a result of a number of factors that were years in the making, self-imposed, self-destructive and also somewhat outside of his control, Tiger Woods lost his mojo. Guess what? It means he is human...or as US Weekly likes to say, "He's just like us!"

Sure, we all have the occasional setback. But haven't we also found ourselves in slump at one time or another? You know, when those deals that you were absolutely positive would close and they all don't. The work that used to get you up out of bed every morning now has you in a funk. Or maybe you hit a rut or a rough patch in a close personal relationship. It could be watching a child that is close to you struggle. Perhaps it is a string of health problems or bad investments that all seem to hit you and your family at once. Or it could be as simple as your weekend golf game has hit the skids.

Sometimes, if we are lucky, these cold streaks can be short lived, but mostly they just feel like they could be infinite. And no matter what, when you lose that mojo, there is one thing that is certain: it totally sucks.

So what do you do? You can google "How to Get Your Mojo Back" and you will find plenty articles, videos and words of wisdom to help you. Go to Amazon and I'm sure you can find countless self help books to buy and read (or put on your desk and not read). You can talk to friends, trusted advisors or loved ones and they will all give you their two cents, pat you on the back, and they will no doubt tell you "Things will work out."

None of that matters. What Nicklaus points out about Tiger Woods is that the ability to win again after being in a prolonged slump (aka regaining your mojo) is something that ultimately resides within you. Sure, luck can play a part, help snap you out of it, and get you back on track. And yes, you can try new things and make some adjustments to the approach or expectations that got you off center. But ultimately, to get going again, you have to get yourself to a point where you believe it yourself between your ears. It's that simple.

Tiger Woods will likely win another golf tournament in his lifetime -- it could possibly turn into multiple. He may not be the same unstoppable presence that he once was, but his talent is so good that he will most likely see success on the golf course once again. He will have to be comfortable that it may look and feel different or be on a different scale, but it will be success nonetheless. Watch out for it and remember it the next time you lose your mojo. If you can manage to keep calm, roll up your sleeves, and believe in yourself, that mojo will come back.

Enjoy the selections below (I also snuck in a cool new music find for you music fans) and definitely check out the latest podcast I posted this week. I'm looking to do more of these, and the Friends of Dave are all an interesting bunch, so hit me up and let's put some time on the calendar.

XOXO

Dave

NEW PODCAST ALERT

Friends of Dave Spotlight: Barry Star

CHECK IT OUT: Recently recorded a fun in-person discussion with Friend of Dave Barry Star, CEO of Wall Street Horizon (www.wallstreethorizon.com), a leading provider of corporate event data and analysis.

Looking to ramp up my podcast library this summer -- let me know if you'd like to take part. It's fun, easy, can be done remotely, and does not take too much time. Friends of Dave would like to hear your story!

2 To Get You Thinking...

What the Hell Happened at General Electric? — fortune.com Few corporate meltdowns have been as dramatic as General Electric’s over the past 18 months—but the problems started long before that.

Why Our Brains Fall for False Expertise, and How to Stop It — www.strategy-business.com Once we are aware of the shortcuts our minds take when deciding who to listen to, we can take steps to block those shortcuts.

4 For Your Day Job...

When Your Competition Accelerates, Have the Courage to Go Slow — savagethoughts.com

The truth is that moving slowly is crucial and takes courage.

Sometimes being a first mover in a new market can set you up to teach others from your mistakes. Good food for thought about the value of taking a more methodical approach. Case in point: Apple just now moving into the smart home speaker market.

Making predictions about the performance of real estate stocks using alternative data. — realyse.com Using alternative data to assess whether the performance of real estate stocks can be predicted.

How Shipping Manifests Can Detail Veiled Relationships — insight.factset.com

More evidence that by examining alternative sources of data you can gain valuable insights and bring an additional dimension of geopolitical and economic risk into the equation. This highlights the shipping industry, but think about the broader applications across others.

The Death of Retail Is Greatly Exaggerated — www.economy.com

While the retail sector is undergoing changes due to the growth of e-commerce, it is doing better than you might think.