Chris Nichols

By Chris Nichols

I just got back from some meetings in Orlando, Florida. There are many beautiful golf courses in the area, and I had the opportunity to drive by Disney’s Lake Buena Vista Golf Course and see this phenomenal golf hole.

Surrounded by water and sandwiched between two sand traps, this hole could easily be summed up as “challenging”! But is it really? Interestingly enough, the green is no different in size than a standard hole without the water and the the sand traps. In other words, it’s not any more difficult to get the ball on this green than on any other green at your local golf course.

Why then, when we look at this hole, do we automatically add the words challenging or difficult to its description? It lies with where our focus is centered. If we are focused on the goal or objective (aka the pin and hole), and not on the visual distractions (aka the sand traps and water waiting to gobble up your golf ball), it’s much easier to get the ball on this green. Golf course designers like to add these obstacles because they understand that the principle of target fixation will distract the golfer and increase the difficulty of the hole.

How often do we allow external challenges, like the water and sand traps, to cloud our vision and block our approach to our goals and objectives? By simply changing our target fixation and focusing on the desired results we can in effect block out the external challenges and chart a course leading us to success. It’s interesting to note the agents who are finding tremendous success in this market. They’ve been laser focused on finding opportunities and closing transactions despite the difficulties and challenges surrounding them.

Chris Nichols is a REALTOR® with Prudential Utah Elite Real Estate in Orem, Utah. Learn more about Chris at: buysellinvestutah.com, utahrepro.com or @utahREpro.