None of these are original and none are clever. They are the ones that have held up, and I learned most of them the slow way.
Make the bed. Do the reps. Hit the club that is not the longest but leaves the easiest next shot. None of it is impressive and all of it works.
Talent sets the ceiling. Reps set the floor. You spend almost your whole life standing on the floor, so build the floor.
Punch out sideways. It feels like quitting and it is almost always right. Most disasters are the recovery attempt, not the original mistake.
The last one is already spent. The only thing still under your control is where you leave yourself next.
Being pushed hard by somebody who believes in you is a gift. Deliver the bar without making anybody feel small and people will run through walls with you.
A rough version you can actually look at teaches you more in a week than a plan does in a month.
Memory quietly edits in your favour. Record what you thought at the time, not after you found out how it went.
There is no defender and nobody to blame. On a bad day I am my own worst enemy, and noticing that early is most of the job.
Do the boring thing first, reps beat talent, take the small loss early, play the shot in front of you, hold the standard without the contempt, start before you are ready, write it down while it is true, and you are the one you are competing with. Most came off a golf course, and he learned them the slow way.
Talent sets the ceiling and reps set the floor. You spend almost your whole life standing on the floor, so that is the thing worth building. Mark Gabrielli is open about not being a natural at much. What he has is a willingness to do the same thing over and over until it stops being hard.
It means punching out sideways instead of attempting the hero shot. It feels like quitting and it is almost always right, because most disasters are the recovery attempt rather than the original mistake. In golf that is accepting a bogey instead of turning it into a triple, and the same logic holds off the course.
Because a rough version you can actually look at teaches you more in a week than a plan does in a month. Waiting until everything is figured out mostly delays the feedback. Mark Gabrielli runs this site the same way, publishing outlines and drafts and filling them in as he writes them.