This morning I had my second lesson with my new paddle tennis coach, Gino. This is a new adventure for me and my husband. We’ve walked by the Venice Paddle Tennis courts for years and are now finally participating.

As I watched my husband in his lesson and how Gino was coaching him, I saw so many analogies to how I work with my clients and how my coach, the amazing Steve Chandler, works with me. My husband is an athlete so he approaches the sport very differently from me. His competitive nature kicks in. His “want” to excel drives him. And, Gino is teaching him to slow down and learn the mechanics…don’t worry, I’ll get to my lessons in a moment. Mark used to play tennis and is learning new techniques for a shorter court. It’s fascinating watching him learn and utilize his skills from different sports to adapt to this sport.

A few years ago, I heard a great quote from football Hall of Famer, Troy Aikman. When asked about the secret to his success, Troy answered, “A short memory.” I was reminded of this quote when Gino cautioned Mark this morning as he witnessed Mark’s frustration with not hitting the ball perfectly, to let go of each hit as they happen. He couldn’t carry the memory of the last hit to the next or he’d be behind the ball.

And, how often do we do that in life? Many people carry the frustrations of our past, judgments of ourselves and regret over lost opportunities into the present which means we are not available for what is happening now.

When I work with my clients, we visit the past ONLY in service to upgrading beliefs that are blocking us in the present. If there is a misunderstanding or misinterpretation about an event from our childhood, it could still be operating in us and holding us back from moving forward in the present towards what we really want to experience in our lives. And, all we really have is the present anyway. The opportunities and choices we have right now is what matters and the shorter our memory, the less we remember our judgments, what people said about what we could or couldn’t do decades ago. We get to choose anew each moment and swing again.

So what was my big lesson? Follow through. I have an issue on the court with hitting the ball but not keep the racket moving across my body and to not keep moving my feet forward. I stop in my tracks. In life, I have “shiny object syndrome,” where I complete a new project but then move to something new. There are opportunities when I complete projects for me to stick with them and follow through and go deeper with it and continue moving forward…versus stopping or moving sideways to something else. And, it’s fun for me that I get to work with my clients on similar issues.

Oh yeah, and the short memory things is important for me as well.

I’m thrilled to be learning and being a beginner myself and seeing the lessons that will help my clients as well. More to come…