17 Dec 2025 · 2 min
Brian Johnson shares a story about a golfer who sank a tournament-winning putt without realizing it, illustrating why focusing on process beats chasing outcomes. He connects this to the ancient Greek idea of a hero as someone who protects others through love and compassion.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another optimize + one gold medal winning Mental Toughness Coach and author Lanny Basham is all about focusing on the process of goal achievement.
He tells a great story about one.
Of his clients, a pro golfer. Now this professional golfer was struggling a bit.
He was setting his goals for the.
Year and Lanny told him not to think about winning tournaments, but to put all of his attention on mastering the process of playing well, identifying the key components of a successful shot and then taking it literally one shot at a time. So this golfer embraces the wisdom and early in the season he's out on the 18th green in the final round of a big tournament. He's lining up his putt. Following the process he and Lanny established. He makes the putt, his playing partner shakes his hand and congratulates him. Then he realizes something must be up when his wife runs onto the green cheering, Did I win?
He asks.
Yeah, you just won the tournament and a million dollars. Imagine that. Imagine being so focused on executing the next baby step in your process that you don't even know you're sinking a million dollar putt. And guess what? You are of course, much more likely to sink the putt when every ounce of your creative energy is focused on doing your best and not leaking out in concerns about doing well enough. Process versus Outcome.
Where's your focus? Do you know what the word hero meant in ancient Greek? Get this. It didn't mean tough guy or killer of bad guys. It meant protector. A hero has strength for a hero's secret weapon. Love. Compassion. Empathy. Quite simply, a hero cares. And very importantly, a hero is willing to do the work required to optimize and build the strength to make a difference in their families to communities and world. And you know what? Our world needs heroes today more than ever before. We need you to be a hero. Helping you optimize your life so you can actualize your heroic potential is what optimize is all about. We have dozens of what we call wisdom packs to help you optimize every facet of your life. From getting more clarity on your purpose to to setting and achieving goals, dialing in your energy with the best wisdom on nutrition, movement, sleep and meditation and creating grounded confidence and the ability to show up at your best day in and day out. Our wisdom packs are filled with hundreds of Philosopher's Notes which are 20 minute book summaries that help you apply the most powerful ideas from the best books to your life today and members get dozens of hour long masterclasses to master the most important facets of their lives. Every hero has a guide on their hero's journey. Harry Potter had Dumbledore, Dorothy had the Good Witch of the North, Luke Skywalker had Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda. I'm kind of like your virtual Obi Wan with a little less hair and well, no lightsabers, but otherwise. Or perhaps more accurately, I'm kind of like your philosopher guide who stuffs your wisdom packs with all the best ancient wisdom plus modern science plus practical tools from all the best Yodas, Dumbledores, good witches out there so that you're supercharged and ready to rock your epic heroic quest. If that sounds like fun, we'd love to have you join us. Optimize your heroic potential actualized.
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