So many people these days tell me, “I don’t have the skills to do this”,or “I don’t have the talent to be that good”. Let me tell you now, skills are great, but to rise to the level of outstanding, skills are not enough and will never be. Success is 80% psychology/mindset and only 20% mechanics. What will take your golf game or to the next level is not skill or ability, but a new level of thinking! Hopefully this story will inspire you to step up and take your golf game and life to the next level!

This is one of those stories I’d never forget. It is such an inspiration, such a moving story that it touched millions of people around the world. It only happened recently in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where heroes are born and your true strength is tested.


The hero in this case was the relatively unknown Matthias Steiner, a super heavy weight weightlifter, from Germany. I think he was ranked number 4-5 at the time of the Olympics. If you don’t know his story, his beloved wife was involved in a tragic car accident a year before the 2008 Olympics. And in a coma at the hospital, Matthias made her a promise. He promised that he would go to Beijing and win the gold medal. She died soon after in hospital.

The super heavy weight was the last of the weightlifting competition. Weighing around 145kg, his grizzly figure matched that of his competition. Failing to lift his first 2 of 3 lifts in the final clean and jerk section, Matthias was looking like he wasn’t going to make it to the podium. The massive Russian weightlifter, Evgeny Chigishev, raised the weight and with a titanic effort, lifted the weight to claim the first position. It was Matthias’ turn. It was the last lift of the whole Olympics. And Matthias was coming 4th overall.

Weightlifting has an element of poker within the sport. You declare the weight that you will attempt and try to bluff others. But one thing is for sure, once you’ve decided, you can’t go back. And thus the essential rule of weightlifting is, know thyself!


With his deceased wife and his promise heavily on his mind, Matthias raised the weight by 8 kgs. This is very unusual as weightlifters tend to only go up in increments of 2 or 4kgs. But he was coming 4th, and 7kg behind the leader, Evgeny. Matthias raised the weight on the bar to 258kg, knowing that he failed 2 attempts minutes before of 250kg. But also he knew he went to Beijing for the gold.

Despite this, he stepped and didn’t back down. He knew that at the time, his personal best was only 248kg, but that didn’t stop him from giving his all. We all watched him step up to the platform, attempting to do something that was theoretically very improbable.  It was now or never for this big man, either go home with the gold, or nothing at all.

For the next minute we all watched in awe as this monstrous yet heartfelt man, clenches the bar, jerks it to his chin, paused for a moment, and in one fluid motion, raised it over his head. And in that moment, the whole world knew he had succeeded and won gold. He had become a hero in that moment.

As tears ran down his face, this preposterous man celebrated uncontrolably around the stage, with sadness and immense happiness. He held up a photo of his late wife in one hand as he stood on the top of the podium holding the gold medal. It brought tears to thousands of people everywhere, because we all knew, that it wasn’t skill or ability that happened on stage that afternoon. It was heart.


When is NOW a good time for you to step up and give your all? Your life will not have meaning or significance if you hold back and if you don’t give your all. It’s time to raise the bar.

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