Hey, Bear. Whoa, Bear. It's OK, Bear.

A quick new trick (it doesn't work on bears)

I recently took an Alaska cruise. During the trip we were afforded the opportunity to walk through the woods, and thus we were required to sit through a bear safety class. Our guides had bear spray, we needed to stay in a group and look big… all standard stuff. And then our expedition leader dropped this on us: “Hey bear, whoa bear, it’s OK bear.” She admitted it wasn’t practical advice for encountering a bear, but nonetheless it stuck. I did not get a chance to try it on a bear, but I love it for parenting and golf. 

One of the biggest struggles I have is taking good ideas and packaging them in a way that my brain can use them. What I am trying to do on the golf course is relatively simple. I am trying to make the best decision I can from my current location. As I said, simple. Not easy. The most difficult part for me, and the most important part, is not compounding errors. Adding on risk when I am already out of position simply does not make sense strategically, but when we are upset we aren’t necessarily making rational decisions.

Enter: Hey, bear. Whoa, bear. It’s OK, bear.

I initially used this with my daughters as they were getting upset about something, and I feel like it will have strategic value for me on the golf course.

Hey, Bear. Let’s acknowledge the problem. Your sister hit you too hard during a pillow fight. You flared a ball left. Much like a bear, we are not going to RUN from the problem, but stare it down. Once we accept that a mistake has been made, we can start dealing with it.

Whoa, Bear. Now that we’ve acknowledged the mistake, we don’t need to dwell on it. It happened, and it’s over. There is nothing more to be done about the issue. We can’t take the shot back, and we just have to move the next swing. This is not to say there is nothing to learn, simply that now is not the time to dwell on the issue. 

It’s OK, Bear. Forgiveness. Always important. We’ve acknowledged the bad shot, and moved on. Time to move forward and hit our next shot. 

There are plenty of other techniques to move on to the next shot. Figuring out how to get yourself out of a negative mindset is the important part. Say “Hey, Bear. Whoa, Bear. It’s OK, Bear.” outloud. For me, it’s a fun little phrase that I can link with the mental attitude I want to have on the course. It’s a simple little trick, but it helps me step back from the problem, process it and move on. The kids also enjoyed it. We could quickly focus on what was making them upset, and process it.