No matter how hard they work, some of them make it to their life's goal of playing and winning on the PGA and LPGA Tours and some of them don't. It was a puzzle to me for years why some of this great talent couldn't make the grade. I noticed that some players of inferior physical ability would make it over those who had what appeared to be an almost flawless game. In 1991 I read a book, Learned Optimism, that explained much of this phenomenon to me. Simply stated, the person who persist in the face of adversity, regardless of the arena, wins in the long run.
Research shows that people who persist win in work, love and play.
People who give up, suffer more physical and emotional problems and never reach their full potential. That's an easy call, you might say, but read on. People who persist in the face of adversity are mentally tough. They are more resistant to depression, have stronger immune systems and succeed in most arenas in which they participate. In a research study that was done using the 1987 Berkeley swim team, the athletes were given false feedback on their times at an exhibition meet.