My grandson, Garrett Kucher, was born to my daughter Nona and her ex-husband Larry Kucher, in the Kootenays of British Columbia. He was always good at sports which included Baseball and Hockey. Gold was his passion to this day.
This blog entry is an interview that he recently gave on Confidence.
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CONFIDENCE IS
Intraline
INTRODUCING GARRETT KUCHAR:
Meet Garret – he is a 27 year old professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, he is also the Ambassador for Golf at the Predator Ridge Golf Course, here in Canada!
WHAT DOES CONFIDENCE MEAN TO YOU?
Confidence involves the expectation of success at a given task or activity without the fear of failure or any significant emotional expenditure, though, with the ability to handle any resulting outcome. The belief that you have the skills or will develop the skills to succeed are crucial as well as a positive attitude. It also involves understanding personal limitations in such a way as to not impact success.
WHERE DO YOU THINK YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE COMES FROM?
Ironically, the biggest impact on the development of my self-confidence has come from past experiences of self-doubt. I have doubted myself many times in high pressure situations which has led to failure, embarrassment, and disappointment in myself. Being talented enough to succeed, my disappointment stems from failing as a result of fear of failure. This has made me aware of the need to control situations with my self-confidence. This awareness has continued to vastly spiked my self confidence throughout my career, and, made me mentally stronger, smarter, calmer, and pushed my self-confidence to a new high.
WERE YOU ALWAYS AS CONFIDENCE OR WAS CONFIDENCE SOMETHING YOU HAD TO BUILD?
I feel I’ve had a level of confidence that’s always been there since I was a kid. As I have become older, through a continued variety of different experiences and situations, my ability to understand the complexities relating to confidence has steadily grown. These experiences, both positive and negative, have been crucial to help me to continue to gain more confidence. Being involved in many different environments and scenarios has given me that boost that I needed to be able to adapt to any fork in the road.
TELL US ABOUT A TIME YOU WERE NOT FEELING CONFIDENT & WHY.
When I think of a time when I wasn’t feeling confident, one day stands out in my golf career. I had just finished my second round of a three day golf tournament I was participating in, in my hometown. This event was very important to me because I grew up watching this tournament as a kid and all the great players from the area had won it at some point in their career. So after breaking the two round scoring record and giving myself a comfy four shot lead heading into the final round I woke up with this awful feeling in my stomach the next day. I then headed out on the course surrounded by tons of locals, friends and family and before I knew it the round was done and I had lost the tournament by one stroke. The disappointment I had in myself was beyond any words but it opened the door and made me realize what had happened. No one beat me, I simply stood in my way and beat myself. I had no confidence in myself which then led to failure.
IF YOU’RE NOT FEELING CONFIDENT HOW DOES THAT EFFECT YOU, AND WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU DO TO BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE?
It can impair my ability to compete at my highest potential. Golf especially relies on confidence more than most endeavours. My confidence level has fluctuated from feeling very little confidence, to hyper confident, where I believe I can “walk on water”. When playing a round of golf, there is a very strong correlation between the level of confidence for the round and the success that day. The greater the confidence the lower the score. To help boost my confidence, I often remind myself how hard I’ve worked for that certain moment. Giving myself gratitude when I feel I’ve earned it, is a massive confidence booster for myself.
TELL US ABOUT A TIME IN YOUR LIFE WHERE YOU FELT MOST CONFIDENT AND WHY?
I feel like right now I have the most confidence I have ever felt. Being surrounded with the right people, who are supportive of my journey and understand the process, lets me focus on the tasks at hand. Being surrounded by a strong core of people, including my team, friends, family and my girlfriend helps facilitate that much more confidence.
Garrett with his partner Tori Apostoliuk
HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK CONFIDENCE IS, IN GENERAL?
I think confidence plays a huge role in virtually every aspect of life. Confidence allows people to interact, travel the world, build relationships, and most of all, chase their dreams. I think if someone finds that confidence in themselves they will embark on that dream they once had, or more vigorously chase their goals, with little fear of the outcome.
I think confidence plays a huge role in virtually every aspect of life. Confidence allows people to interact, travel the world, build relationships, and most of all, chase their dreams. I think if someone finds that confidence in themselves they will embark on that dream they once had, or more vigorously chase their goals, with little fear of the outcome.
TELL US ABOUT SOMEONE IN YOUR LIFE WHO IS A STRONG, CONFIDENCE ROLE MODEL OR WHO HELPED BUILD OR INSPIRED YOUR OWN CONFIDENCE?
The person who has positively impacted my life, and both built my confidence and inspired me to find my own confidence, is Terry Fraser. I consider Terry a positive role model for me, as he has opened (and continues to open) so many doors for me with his positivity, support, and his confidence in me. This helped me rise to the next level in my career. His confidence in me has helped transform my weaknesses into positives, and pushed me to make my positives stronger. I am not sure my increased confidence would have been possible without having Terry as a strong role model.
HOW MUCH IS YOUR CONFIDENCE EFFECTED BY TODAY’S SOCIAL AND DIGITAL CLIMATE. DO YOU THINK THAT OUR DIGITAL WORLD HAS A IMPACT ON OUR CONFIDENCE LEVELS AS A SOCIETY?
My confidence isn’t affected by today’s social and digital climate. Today’s social and digital climate only partially portrays reality accurately. I feel a lot of people use it as a mechanism to express a so-called ‘perfect life’, which will then make other people who follow them subconscious.
HOW CLOSELY IS YOUR CONFIDENCE TIED TO YOUR APPEARANCE?
I would say very close, it’s important for me to feel comfortable with my appearance. I care about my appearance not because of people judging me but because of how it reflects on my confidence. The more comfortable I feel with my appearance the more confidence I will have.
IF YOU HAD TO RATE ON A SCALE OF 1-10 HOW MUCH YOUR APPEARANCE AFFECTS YOUR CONFIDENCE WHAT RATING WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
8.5.
AS YOU LOOK BACK ON YOUR LIFE, HOW HAS YOUR CONFIDENCE CHANGED?
My confidence has changed from different life experiences and interactions. I feel I’ve been lucky enough to have some very influential people in my life and this has led me to be confident in specific ways. It has allowed me to be aware of tools and strategies that I can use to gain more confidence throughout my life and career.
WHAT IS ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW?
It’s important to understand that developing confidence is a lengthy process. However, it allows you to chase any dreams, goals, careers you desire as it is associated with optimism and an expectation of being capable of handling and manipulating any situation, and the resulting positive or negative outcome. It’s a special feeling waking up in the morning knowing you get to do what you love everyday. This feeling is called confidence.
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS YOUR SUPERPOWER?
My superpower is a combination of my ability to relate to virtually everyone, along with my aura of acceptance and support for others. I have genuine keen interest in others and their lives which makes interaction with others effortless.
LEARN MORE ABOUT GARRETT:
Garrett is a professional Golfer who lives between Cartagena, Spain and Kelowna, British Colombia. He is 26 years old and has played professional golf for 5 years. Currently Garrett holds a spot on the European tour. We are thrilled to have spoken to Garrett about his confidence journey.
Posted by Elmer Verigin March 05, 2020 1020 hours