Flag Hunters Golf Podcast

Breaking Through Mental Barriers: Howard Falco on Identity and Performance

• Jesse Perryman

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Howard Falco joins us to discuss how awareness—both internal and external—can transform your performance on the golf course and beyond. We explore how our subconscious mind often drives our actions, and how becoming aware of these hidden forces can dramatically improve our game and our lives.

• Acceptance is the first step to improvement—recognizing your current abilities without judgment
• Most amateurs avoid weaknesses while pros actively seek them out to transform them
• Our identity and self-perception create invisible boundaries on our performance
• True improvement requires changing how you fundamentally see yourself as a player
• Curiosity rather than anger is key when facing challenges on the course
• Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and other champions win through mindset, not just physical skill
• The most successful players compete against history, not just other players
• Asking yourself "Why not me?" can reveal hidden limitations to overcome
• The "bounce back" statistics of tour players show how quickly they return to their identity
• Self-awareness is potentially the next leap in human evolution

Check out Howard's new book "Invincible: The Mindset of Infinite Potential and the Secret to Inevitable Success" available now. You can also follow Howard on Instagram or visit totalmind.sports.com and howardfalco.com for more information.

A special thank you to Mizuno Golf and JumboMax Grips


Speaker 1:

Hello, this is Jesse Perryman, welcoming you to another edition of the Flag Hunters Golf Podcast. I am your host, along with my co-host, who is not a board on this conversation, but his name is Justin Tang. He is the lead instructor out of Tanamera Golf Club in Singapore. So if you're ever there especially if you're a listener to the podcast you're definitely going to want to spend some time with Justin. It's worth every second of his wisdom and insight. And this week we have on an author, a coach speaker. His name is Howard Falco. He just recently released a book called Invincible. He's also the author of another book that I am currently reading, called I Am. He is a coach, and a very good one at that. He has a lot of great insight and in this conversation we go into.

Speaker 1:

The main theme is awareness being aware of anything and everything, of anything and everything, especially internally and externally, and how that awareness really helps us, not only on the golf course but off. If you think about anything that you may be stuck with on the golf course, maybe it's a hurdle that you need to overcome, maybe it's qualifying for a USGA event or, you know, even playing your local club championship. We usually have something that we're dealing with and, quite frankly, there's a good chance that we are not aware of that. Whatever that is that is blocking us, and in this conversation we discussed that. And in this conversation we discussed that. I want to encourage all of you to go out and purchase the book Invincible I'm about halfway through it right now and's links and everything are in the show notes. And, howard, a big thank you to you, pal, for coming on. I really appreciate your time and your energy and your effort to not only help all of us play better golf, but to make this world a better place. Awareness is really a huge, huge, huge thing for all of us to think about, to contemplate and to work on, because a lot of times, what's happening in our subconscious is driving us and a lot of times we're not even aware of it. So becoming aware of it is going to definitely stack the deck in our favor to to live the life we want to live, both on and off the golf course. So again, a big shout out to Howard and also a huge shout out to our sponsors, mizuno Golf and Jumbo Max Grips. And again, we're going to have a unique code eventually when we can get Jumbo Max. They are absolutely just out of their minds, busy with their new inventions. And, quite frankly, those grips, they're insane. They've completely changed my perspective on how to set up a golf club and really to get the golf club to sing how I want it to sing and to feel how I want it to feel. So a shout out again to John Mazinobu, a good friend of mine, the owner operator of General Max Grips, and we will have a unique code coming out shortly. Cheers everyone. Have a fantastic week and enjoy the episode.

Speaker 1:

So this is Jesse Perryman from the Flag Hunters Golf Podcast, welcoming you to another great edition, and this week's guest is a powerful one. His name is Howard Falco. He's an author and coach, author of three pretty good books. One I'm getting into called Invincible, which is your latest one, howard, correct? Yep, just came out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah and hey, howard, thanks for coming on. I really appreciate it. You know, yeah, my pleasure. Thank you for having me on. Appreciate it. You know, yeah, my pleasure, thank you for having me on. It's, it's the intention of of this conversation, this episode and this podcast really is to go beneath the veil of the surface level consciousness, especially on the golf course and in competition. You know so many, so many of my listeners, howard, I get a great feedback and some of the things that I get constantly is how can we get out of our own way, how can we take the charge, or at least not accept the charge, of debilitating thoughts out there that inevitably come up, the you know, for example, you know missing short putts when you need to, and then the shame that comes with it. Or just we pound ourselves unmercifully, yeah, for making mistakes. Quite frankly, that's a part of the game.

Speaker 2:

Right, you know making mistakes. Quite frankly, that's a part of the game, right? So, yeah, I think what this all boils down to the game of golf you cannot avoid the truth in the game of golf, and that's what makes it such a great game. The ball is static, we're moving and it's all on us. There's no teammates, we're all under the same conditions, and so and it's all on us, there's no teammates, we're all under the same conditions, and so it's a raw and accelerated path to truth. And so the first step, I believe, to getting us to the next level in this game is really acceptance. Right, we have to accept where we're at at each given moment in playing the game, and that's important for a lot of reasons, you know. Obviously, we need to know what we need to work on, because the best in the world, I can tell you, are always looking to see where their weaknesses are so they can turn them into strengths, and the amateur is always looking to get away from his weakness and focus on only what he's good at. So the key with accepting the truth is A you see what you need to work on from a technical or talent standpoint, but you also see what you need to work on from a psychological standpoint. Mm-hmm, and we both know playing this game both of us probably a combined 80 years is that personalities get revealed. Right, you are completely naked when you're playing this game. I think that what's so exciting about this work is that it really gets to the heart of where those limitations have been from a psychological standpoint and it offers a path of how to get through them. And that path is a process of self-awareness, because we all know, in playing the game, what's so fascinating about it is when we have a great nine, that's out of our comfort zone on the good side I would say out of the mean, standard deviation from the mean and somehow we can tend to find a way to get back to the mean on the backside. Oh, I shot 37 on the front, but you know I had 40 on the back and came up, you know, right around my score. That's what I usually shoot. And then our brain accepts it and it says, yeah, that's what I shoot, that's what I do and what is being offered through this work at least.

Speaker 2:

Well, this is on the amateur level. On the professional level it's completely different, but on the amateur level it's. You don't have to live by that limitation and it's even actually on the professional level. Some guys just know where they shuffle on the board. Usually they're always trying to get better, but they're happy making a living staying in that top 125. And then there's some guys that like to stay in the top 50 of the world and there's some guys it's intolerable for them to be outside the top 20 or the top 15 in the world. Where does that come from? What is the separating factor? Because they can all hit it right I'm not going to say they can all put it, because that's where it usually shows up and it's it's a psychological reason for that, because that's going to conclude a hole. That's going to conclude a hole that's going to give them a score. And so that's usually where the subconscious comes in and they lip on left side or right side where you know, I mean the best was watching Tiger in his heyday.

Speaker 2:

Everything went in Everything, and there's no non-coincidence of that. It's related to belief. So the question is, how do you get your mind to expand what it believes is possible for you and how it sees who you are? And this is where the book really goes into the heart of identity. So a long answer to your question, jesse, but the path is one of self-awareness to understand where our identity and how we look at ourself has been and how we can expand that to include more possibility. That is the process, because the minute that changes, everything changes, and I've seen this not only in golf that I've worked in at the highest level, but in every sport, from the NFL to the NBA to Major League Baseball. As soon as a human being sees themselves in a different way, everything begins to change Sure.

Speaker 1:

So that absolutely makes sense. How do Howard, how do we go about that process? How do we? How do we Well, I mean, you said acceptance. That's definitely the first step accepting where we're at. You know, I'm a, I'm a plus one handicap I can play well. At times I can also get in my own way. I'm a pretty decent example of doing that first step and how it's helped me improve after the age of 50. Accepting where I'm at, accepting my limitations at the time and then using that as framework to build on the time and then using that as framework to build on. So, as far as, how do we achieve the paradigm shift internally to how we see ourselves? With an expanded consciousness, how can we see ourselves become a champion at whatever level we want to see ourselves at?

Speaker 2:

So the first step, and actually the first step in the book, is realizing your infinite potential, so understanding that the truth is there is no limit on possibility. That has to be a part of the way you see yourself in the world that there is no limit, because it's the only way it's going to build a strong enough will to go through the process of self-awareness, to be able to look at where the previous limitation was and to be able to change it. To have the humility to do that, it's got to be driven by the will. If you're comfortable, forget it, you got no chance. But that's why these guys at the highest level in the world are so great because they're never comfortable. They always want to keep going further and keep pushing the limit. That's what makes them professional athletes and that's what makes them champions is that they're unwilling to just accept it. And obviously a lot of this has to do with once you know the path and once you know the knowledge. If you don't know the knowledge of the path, no matter how much will you have. But that's what's great about this work on mental strength and mindfulness is that you learn how to go about it.

Speaker 2:

And the first step, once you realize, infinite possibility is okay. In order for me to change who I am, I have to know how I got here. I have to understand how my identity was formed, because in that identity formation you're going to see that where the limits have been, in who you've been and why it's shaked out the way it has every single time, and then you can begin to question it and then you can begin to change it. And that's where self-awareness kicks in, because as soon as the negative thoughts come in or the limitations come in where in the past you just accepted it and you said, oh, that's just who I am, that's what I do, all these things that have kept the narrative going, that have kept you at a certain score or a certain result, you interrupt it and you say, hold on, but does that have to be who I am now?

Speaker 2:

I know I hate this hole and I always struggle on this hole, but how can I look at this in a new way, as a new individual and as a new player, and do I have the courage to play it a different way? Do I have to smash driver hair or can I hit a longer iron in? Can I hit something off the tee. That positions me instead of always being three feet off the fairway in the rough, where now I'm struggling to a raised green that's humpbacked and sloped, which is impossible to hold. Can I make that decision and change something? And that's how it ends up showing up at the surface. Does that make sense?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, 100%, it does make sense. I think what you're saying too, just out of my own curiosity, howard is that takes for someone that wants to dive into this work. It certainly takes a little bit of humility as well, where you got to be tired of the BS, the stories that we tell ourselves, the false acceptance, the oh, that's what I do. You know, I shot 30 on the front and I shot 40 on the back. Eh, 200's not too bad. You know things like that. You know things like that, and and and I really want to challenge the listener to not be accepting of the BS stories that we tell ourselves and to come to a place with hat in hand, quite frankly, and say, okay, I want to, I'm accepting where I'm at. And now, this being the case, how shall we proceed? So exactly? You know that. So, coming to that level of awareness, how shall we proceed? So exactly, you know that? So, coming to that level of awareness, how do we get from being in a place of where we're at, coming to you, howard, hat in hand?

Speaker 1:

I just, you know, played three tournaments in a row. I played like crap, I'm, I'm, I look at my golf swing on video. It looks pretty damn good. I look at my putting stroke. It's. It's decent, short game's decent. Nothing is adding up, except what's going on in my psyche.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and you know golf is an interesting kind of you know it's like hidden. It's a hidden way. Golfers can be masochists 100%, and they can find their way to imperfection through golf and that feeling right Right. So, if they have felt not good enough, golf is a great way to validate that Right, because you get right close, but you just don't get over the hump. And so the answer to your question is hat in hand, the work is okay. Where can we dig in and find out? You know where you have not been allowing yourself to see the truth about your bunker game, your short game, whatever it is, that's showing up on the surface and then going a little deeper. How do you feel about who you are? How do you feel about success? Do you like who you are? Can you experience joy and happiness?

Speaker 2:

One of the things with a lot of the young kids that I work with, these elite players in high school and college, is they have been so used to being angry that they don't know any other way, and so their ego ends up finding it somehow. They find the struggle, they find the fight, and that's the comfort zone for them, so the ones that make it out of that are able to break from that pattern and are able to say do I always have to be angry? Even though I've been angry playing this game my whole life, does that serve me in where I need to go? And if you look at the top players in the world, you're going to see something completely different. Not that they don't have a lot of energy and a lot of negative energy that builds when they look up and they don't see that ball flying in the window. They want it to fly in. There's going to be some anger, but they know how to control it and, most importantly, they know how to get it out of their body and out of their mind before they focus on the next shot, because they know who they are. I talk about this all the time. The bounce back stat on tour why is it so big? Why is the birdie after bogey stat so incredible on the tour? Because they know when they're out of their comfort zone making a bogey, it's not who they are and they bounce quickly. They get themselves.

Speaker 2:

But that's the power of the mind in getting you back to where you believe that you are. And this goes a little bit deeper and I'll explain anything. So let me know how you want me to do this, but what I learned about life is that life is trying to meet us with who we believe that we are on the deepest level. What our I am's are on the deepest level Not who we think we are, but who we really believe we are and it can't give you anything more or anything less than who you believe that you are.

Speaker 2:

So the part about self-awareness is that it helps you dig in to really see how you've been looking at yourself and where the lies are in that, because as soon as you free yourself from limitation and lies about who you are and what you're capable of and you start to see more, then coming down, you know, in the tournament on 17, when you're in contention, instead of being nervous and you know a little bit of energy that's working against you and your muscles and your tempo and your rhythm. Now you're like this is exactly where I want to be, this is who I am, let's go finish, let's hit a good shot. This is exciting, this is fun, and you're looking for a different experience because you've conditioned the belief you have in who you are to own that space more. I tell all my players own the space. Who are you when you get into that moment? Because that's the most important question you can ask yourself. Because if you don't ask yourself that and you let your subconscious take over, it's going back to right, where it's always rested, right.

Speaker 2:

You're going to be struggling really hard to swim upstream and gut that four footer in the hole, whereas on Tuesday, by yourself, it looked like a bucket right, you're just pouring them in from everywhere and all of a sudden, because it matters and it's going to change who you are and it's going to bring you some joy and it's going to bring you some success and it's going to bring you some results. Now you're fighting against that. You want it, but your inner self is saying are we worthy of it? I don't know. Is this who I am? So own the space, decide who you're going to be in those moments, before you even get there. Wish you get that opportunity, hope you get that opportunity and then, freaking, own it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's the conditioning, but it has to be authentic. You can't just pretend. You have to really dig in and find out what it's really been that that's kept you angry. I'm not good enough, my goodness. I mean, how many times does that show up? If we really look beneath the veil of consciousness, in our intentions are good, we want to go out and we want to play, well.

Speaker 1:

But when we get into those moments when we're starting to get tested, that's when you know the, the, you know the shit hits the fan as far as mentally. And how powerful in the flip side of it is is how powerful would it be to be on the 17th hole and to be in contention on the last day and to absolutely embrace that. Like you said, own it, said, own it. And I think a lot of listeners are really curious about how to get there from. Oh my God, I'm here and whatever subconscious limiting beliefs that we have that start to show up. And, like you said, we're fighting. Not only are we fighting our nerves, we're fighting that, we're fighting the golf course, we're fighting the conditions and I really don't think it has to be that way, you know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'll push back just a touch. We're not really fighting the conditions and fighting the golf course, we're really only fighting our own self-identity. Sure, okay, fair enough. Truly, what it comes down to because we've seen it at times on even on the tour, we've seen guys that have had it in their hand, yeah, and you watch it and you can feel it. And if you play this game long enough it doesn't matter what level you play, that you can see it start to happen in somebody who's not ready for that moment. Happen in somebody who's not ready for that moment.

Speaker 2:

And that's the whole point of all this work for people that really want to get to the invincible mind and be ready for it. That's the whole point of all this work is to build your mindset around owning it. You know? And one question I ask in the book and this is after a lot of work reading through the steps, okay, I'm going to throw this out there One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself in this process, when it comes to anything that you want to achieve, whether it's in golf or it's in life, is why not me? Yeah, yeah, in that question and in the response to that will reveal so much of the reason why it hasn't happened yet. Because your mind will throw you some reasons in that moment, and I'll make another statement that I talk about all the time when I speak or teach, and that's this that any thought that causes self-limitation or any sort of idea of yourself being not good enough or not worthy is a lie or stems from a lie. And that's where suffering comes from is when we limit ourself, because, from a universal perspective, from a lie. And that's where suffering comes from is when we limit ourself. Because, from a universal perspective, from a deeper perspective, life is constantly trying to show us what we're worth and what is possible for us, and so that's some of the more deeper sort of maybe more deeper spiritual or consciousness work that one does to really go through and come out on the other side looking at themselves in a completely different way. And sometimes it just takes experience, sometimes it's just naturally going through it, putting your body through it so that you can get used to how your neurons are firing and all your energy and your nervous system. But once you go through it and you realize you're not going to die as you go through it, then you're ready for it next time and then you combine that with a stronger will and a stronger belief in yourself. From doing this reflection work and digging out and dissolving any of these false limitations, then you're really ready to own the moment and step into it.

Speaker 2:

It's interesting that you know any golf field. You have a certain level of intention of the field, right. So the highest in the world is obviously the PGA Tour. With a full, strong field, right, you get these half events. You get a little less intention in the field Corn fairy a little less intention in the field. Corn fairy a little less.

Speaker 2:

Not that these guys aren't talented, but you have to be ready to match the intention and that's why you can play so great at one level and Same player, same golf course. What's the difference? The difference is the energy of the intention of the field squeezes out every hidden limitation, every insecurity. Everything gets with a lot of times with hitters or pitchers that I work with in baseball, and so that's how, that's how powerful this work is Once you realize how to tap into it and how to own more of it in your mind and I'm going to keep stressing this word authentically, because you cannot fool the universe, right, you have to dig in and see wow, I can't believe.

Speaker 2:

My dad said that to me when I was younger and I I really I haven't really shaken that since I was nine years old or 10 years old, that you know.

Speaker 2:

He didn't believe I was going to amount to anything and somehow that still had an influence on me in some way in my life. When the reality is, at any moment, you could see that for the lie that it is, with having no power over your life from this moment forward. I'm just throwing out, obviously, jesse, one example of a million different examples. Sure, but since our parents are the primary caregivers and influencers over our nurturing which is one of the components of identity, by the way that's where it can show up. Where it can show up in your personal experiences when you failed in a tournament, at one point, you know, when you had the lead and somehow you couldn't shake that identity. When it's never who you are, yeah, it's who you were, but you get to decide who you are in this moment. And actually, what makes athletes great is their ability to overcome and to bounce. That's why everybody celebrated Rory so much right, I mean that was.

Speaker 2:

I mean we all celebrated that, just as a human being. You know this struggle and the pain and then the joy of winning and the test he had to go through during that back nine. You know with his own self, you know with what happened on 13 and then what happened on 18 and you know, and then you know with a bounce back birdie, and it's just, it was incredible. But anyway, I've kind of gone on a yes question, but so that that's, that's the journey for each of us.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, so well said, howard. Just beautiful. Great explanations, beautiful. It's funny that you brought up Rory. Excuse me, I was going to ask you about that. I was going to ask you what your opinion was of him. I mean, it was just about 12 months ago where, you know, he had a tough finish at the US Open and it hurt him, you Open and it hurt him. You could just tell it hurt him and for him to bounce back. What do you think he accepted about that? What do you think, just in spirit, well, rory's got great humility.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, he's willing to talk openly about where his failures are, what he's trying to learn. I mean he's been so open and candid through this whole process, even through the whole thing that went down with the pga. I mean he's really been just a really good human being. I feel, you know in in sharing his journey with people and and honoring the pGA Tour and honoring history, and so I think that the golf gods were. Karma was on his side. Good karma was on his side. He had to go through his test.

Speaker 2:

Obviously, he's been on a good run and then he wins the players and he's coming into form. He's feeling good, but when you want something so bad, it can creep in. It crept in a little bit on 13, but he didn't let it bother him, went right back to work. Yeah, got to 18, probably a shot he can execute nine out of 10 times and he just didn't get the face closed fully and now he's got to get it.

Speaker 2:

You know, in this normally not not a hard up and down, but in the situation and it you know a 10 out of 10 in difficulty, right, given the situation and what it meant to him. But he hung in there and came back and I knew when, when the in playoff, that there was no way with the class he has and what just happened, that he wasn't going to do anything but execute that shot. Yeah, and he did, against a really formidable competitor. But I think he just went through his journey and went through his fire and I even felt like the bounce back round after the bad round. Was it on Friday, I can't remember now.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Friday.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. And then he had the bounce back Saturday. Was it where he started off on? Ridiculously strong on the front, like like he? That was it, like that was his test, or one of them, one of many tests throughout the round. But anyway, he was willing to go through what he needed to go through on his journey to execute and his will was strong enough. His belief was strong enough. His desire, since he was a child, was strong enough. And after how many years, 20 starts was 14?, something like that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it was up. It's up there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it was his time he walked, but he had to execute and he had to stay present and he did it. Yeah, yes, he did, but that ability is open to anybody at any level, like anybody listening to this. The next round they go out. If you just dedicate it to being your mentally most strongest round possible, that you're going to do something different, that this time you're not going to get angry at yourself, you're going to get curious when something happens Okay, I'll need to work on that after the round that's angry anymore.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's, that's powerful there, howard. I want to stop you there and expand on that Curious getting curious instead of reactive. I mean you can set that intention Today. I'm going to get curious, I'm going to notice what's going on with me and I'm going to ask myself the why. Maybe after, maybe take notes, maybe a voice memo in your phone, as far as interrupting things, you know, interrupting the status quo that we all do unconsciously out there, Depends on where you want to go with your game.

Speaker 2:

Who do you want to be as a player? Do you want to stay at this level and never get further, or do you want to play at the next level? If you want to play at the next level, you better learn how to manage your energy. You better learn how to be a professional. You better learn how to stop working against yourself. If you want to be stubborn, go for it, but you're going to have a rerun tomorrow and the next day and the next day you have to be willing to do something different because you believe in yourself and your ability.

Speaker 2:

And I know anger has worked your whole career. But how is it working now for you? Is it working now for you? And so it's time to mature and go to the next level with it Doesn't mean you're not gonna have energy and you're gonna have your 10 second rule where you'll be able to get energy out. Just gotta do it in a classy way. Nicholas used to hit his thigh and say come on, jack. And, by the way, this brings up something really important Tiger, jack, when they got angry at themselves, they never were self-deprecating Right Ever. It was always like come on Jack. Come on Tiger. They used it in a sort of a motivating way. Like you know, you're better than this type of way, so that's something to be conscious of.

Speaker 2:

But the old saying of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. So self-awareness allows you to say who do I want to be today? And can I monitor how my body, my ego, my mind is reacting? And can I grade myself at the end of a round and say how did I do today? Maybe I didn't play my best, but how did I handle myself mentally? Did I do a good job? Great, I'm going to go and do that tomorrow, while I still try and play better.

Speaker 2:

And sometimes things take a little time and the universe tests us, you know, because if we think we're going to change something and instantly we're going to have success and we have that expectation, that can be a problem too. See, it didn't work. I was calm today and I still played like crap. Okay, do the best players in the world get pissed off all the time and angry and screaming at themselves and do they do well? No, so you're fooling yourself. Stay with this, keep working at it and you'll have your breakthrough. You have to believe that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, a little patience, a little bit of stick-to-itiveness, especially when one comes to this place of okay, I'm reading Invincible. I've read Howard's stuff and here I am, I'm getting going with this thing and you know, shifts take time. They really do they take time, they can take time, they can. You know I'm especially with my thoughts. You know thoughts can betray us and I've talked to a lot of folks that. How do you you know, I know some friends on tour how do you deal with negative thoughts, how do you deal with self-doubt or anything like that, and you're hitting it right on the head? Meditation's really helped me quite a bit. Separates just give me a little bit more time between hitting a poor shot or even in preparation of a shot. Just it seems to slow things down. Is that something that you recommend?

Speaker 2:

yeah, I mean, meditation is a good tool to slow things down and get present right, so that you can be more of a witness to yourself, so you can catch yourself, so that the subconscious doesn't just take over. That's what presence really does. When you're not present, your subconscious is just running the show right and you don't want it to keep running the show. If you want it to change, you have to be conscious of it so that you can interrupt the patterns and do something different.

Speaker 2:

One of the players I worked with on tour um, the stories in the book, um, the whole idea was about looking at himself in a different, more expanded way than how he had previously seen himself. Talent level off the charts, determination back class, all off the charts. But the belief about competing at the highest level wasn't quite there yet. And over time, as the belief started to change, the performance started to change and as the performance started to change, it built on itself and now he's known as one of the strongest, mentally strong closers in the game right now. So it's about a process of self-awareness and redefining who you are and being willing to put that to the test and then dealing with the results, taking the information, getting curious and then reapplying again, that is. I know this formula sounds simple, but it's so powerful when it's combined with a really strong will, and that's how you outwill everybody else ultimately. Sure, it's not just hard work, it's not just talent level, it's it's mind and how you see and look at who you are.

Speaker 1:

I mean that is so well said, Howard. I think that if we really make a neutral observation of all the greats in the game, they all embody that. Like Tiger, for example, he won golf tournaments with his mind. He didn't necessarily hit it the best out there, in fact he got passed up as far as in distance. When he came out he was the longest and you know not, I mean not that he didn't not hit it good, but he beat those guys with his mind, jack, the same way. I mean we can go down the list Nancy Lopez, annika, my friend, lydia Ko, so many greats today with Rory and Scotty Shuffler. My goodness, you know they have a presence about them.

Speaker 2:

It's a presence born out of a belief in how they see who they are. They do not see limitation. They respect everybody out there. They have great respect for everybody out there, but they do not see limitation in their own self of what they can achieve and they demand that type of performance out of themselves. They do, you know, and and they'll work until they get it, because they don't say that's good enough, you know, no, I want it to be here now.

Speaker 2:

They won't speak about it that much, because sometimes it seems a little. You know, it can seem egoic and it's not. It's actually just coming from a really strong belief, sure, and how they look at themselves and what they, what they demand out of themselves, and it's so finite at that level you're talking about eight billion people on the planet, you're talking about 130 would be in the top 10 or top five of that. There, there's no room for doubt, right, let me say that again. There's no room for doubt. Wow, there's really no room for doubt in golf, right, as soon as doubt's there, you're out of flow, right, right right, that you know.

Speaker 1:

I don't know why, as a society we've all been, it seems like we've been afraid of that, um, afraid of our own greatness, of our own power, of our own potential, you know. I mean, does that make sense?

Speaker 2:

it makes perfect sense, there's a really famous marianne williamson quote that that it's not our deepest fears that we're worried about. It's our greatness. And there's actually a reason for that and the reason is because the ego likes boundary right. It likes to know where you stand, where your boundaries are, and so when you step into greatness, you're opening up into that infinite field of possibility that's unknown what it's going to mean, where it's going to take you, how it's going to change things, and that's what people can regulate and step into and sort of pace time into. The greats define themselves by being in that unbounded space of infinite possibility. It's one of the tenets in in the book. Convinced in the book is that that is where they live in that space.

Speaker 2:

Michael jordan you know he didn't define himself, um, by winning championships. He defined himself as the greatest player ever and therefore he loved it when the game was close, because then he got to shine and be creative and push that boundary of unlimited possibility. He ended up getting six championships, but it was because he defined himself as a great athlete to begin with. There's also a great quote in the book about Tiger in Invincible, where there's a reporter that made a comment. I'll never forget about it. It said, the reason Tiger is so great is that he doesn't define his competition as other players. His competition is history.

Speaker 1:

Boy.

Speaker 2:

Is that a horizon to look at my goodness, just working to be better than you were yesterday. You'll have fun with it, you'll enjoy it and before you know it, it'll show up in your scores and in your results and you weren't even looking at it. You were just focused on expanding your ability as a player.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Well, that's powerful, howard, that's very powerful. You know, just the Tiger example, that just I mean, that's infinite possibility. There I'm playing against history, um, and I, I would, I would very much like to see these concepts taught in school. I mean, my goodness, now you're, you know now you're speaking my language you know, that's one of the one of the things I'm working towards.

Speaker 2:

That's why this book is structured like a curriculum. Sure, because I eventually would like to see young people 16, 17, 18, before they graduate high school, mandatory self-awareness class, self-discovery class, right, so at least they understand how much the way they think about who they are impacts every decision they're going to make when they get out into life. Of course, and and it could, it could save so much suffering, it could help so much with the mental health issues out there when people see the truth about who they are, which is so unbelievably amazing and beautiful, um, if they'll allow themselves to keep going down that that path. So, um, and that's what I've learned. That was my personal journey, you know.

Speaker 2:

Which changed everything for me was realizing, wow, we create so much suffering for ourselves. We don't know any different. We just product of our nurturing and our product, you know, to a certain degree of genetics, passes on not just eye color and hair color and skin color, passes on social and thinking tendencies. But the beautiful thing is that it all can be changed. We can learn to rewire the way that we think about who we are. See who we are. The field of epigenetics shows that our genes are changing real time based on our interaction with our environment and how we decide we're going to survive. The expression of our genes starts to change and then we pass that to the next generation. So so this is very exciting to really go into this part of mental strength and and self-awareness. But I agree, you hit the nail on the head Like you know you're now you're really talking my language. I want to see a big change out there for people.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, just you know, for me and my own personal journey in this game and in life, Howard, I just when, when I started to just the discipline of meditation you know, 15 minutes a day um, I didn't really know what the results were going to be. And then I started thinking, I started seeing myself behave and react differently on the golf course and and that led to me asking more questions like how come this isn't taught, how come that? What you said self awareness, becoming aware when we're I mean, that's really the kind of one of the secrets to life is becoming self-aware 100%.

Speaker 2:

It's the whole purpose of life Expansion of awareness. We're continuing to learn more and more, and I believe that is the next leap in human evolution is a greater sense of awareness of who we are and what is possible, because the mental health crisis is showing anything is that we need more work, because I've learned that all suffering comes from a misunderstanding of self.

Speaker 1:

Right, yeah, and that misunderstanding of self is, you know, like you said, could be genetic, could be parental, it could, you know, circumstantial, whatever.

Speaker 1:

But also, too, I want to encourage everyone that's listening that, um, you know, if there's any struggle with, with, with mental issues, to look at the people also that have overcome, uh, a lot of stuff you know, um, and and have got you know in our game. I mean, my goodness, I, I, I, uh, I watched a documentary on Calvin Pete the other day and he overcame a lot I can't imagine now, you know, and in some of the older school guys, I mean ben hogan, you know, at nine years of age he watched his dad blow his head off and he over, I mean, he overcame, uh, that, um, that would pretty much cripple anybody, but he went on to know to be the greatest ball striker of our of all time. Um, and and Howard, I mean, this conversation has been so enriching and enlightening, um, you know, again, I'm I'm going to encourage all the listeners to go and and check out his latest book, invincible Howard Falco. Um, and uh, you, you have a website that people can get ahold of you, sure.

Speaker 2:

Yep. For golf specific, you can go to total mind. Sportscom is the website I also have my. My regular website is Howard Falcocom, and then my book invincible, the mindset of infinite potential and the secret to inevitable success is, um, on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and uh, everywhere books are sold. And then you can follow me on Instagram, uh, where I share a lot of this work on a daily basis with people.

Speaker 1:

Um, so if you want to fill your curate, your feed with some positive, uplifting stuff, yeah, absolutely, um, and and those who are listening and myself, including this one, really to do a deep dive on this, because these are the intangibles that we've been wanting to unearth and bring to the surface.

Speaker 1:

Good term, because, unfortunately, even though it's growing, it still isn't mainstream, it's still not talked about enough. You know it really isn't and you know this is really kind of the crux and the lifeblood of why I started this podcast, howard, is to have these conversations, out of my own curiosity, to help you know those, or you know, maybe there's a kid that can hear this. Yeah, to help you know those. Or you know, maybe there's a kid that can hear this and uh, and can seek you out and that can change his trajectory or her trajectory and their family's trajectory. But it's got to start somewhere and it starts with these conversations and folks like you that are releasing this really powerful, not not only golf affirming but life affirming information. So thank you for blazing the trail, howard. Oh, thank you very affirming information. So thank you for blazing the trail, howard.

Speaker 2:

Thank you very much, jesse, and thank you for all you do to get this word out and to help people. There's it's, you know. One of my favorite songs says you know, one of my favorite songs of all time is Stairway to Heaven. There's a line in there is that your stairway lies on the whispering wind, and what I really believe that means is that's really truly how close this awareness is that can change your life, and so I just would encourage anybody, if they're struggling, just to know that in any moment, it can all change and the universe is always trying to get you insight and information to help you. Maybe even what's coming at you right now is a great example of that, and so to always have hope that things can change for the better in any moment.

Speaker 1:

Wow. Thank you, Howard. Thank you very, very much for your time and your expertise and I would love to have you on again and continue this conversation Be my pleasure.