Hey Fellow Golfer - 

Thank you for reading this week’s More Pars Than Bogeys Newsletter. If you find it valuable, could you forward this email to a fellow golfer?

Thank you.

You can click here to read the online version of this week’s newsletter. 

And be sure to catch up on this week’s podcast episodes:

#55: How to Set Better Golf Goals in 2025 (and my 2025 goal revealed)

P.S. On January 25, 2025, I’m hosting the first-ever virtual Mental Game of Golf Summit, providing insight, strategies, and frameworks to make playing to your potential a habit. 

You can join me, Josh Nichols, Michael Leonard, and a handful of other brilliant minds for a jam-packed day of learning.

Early-bird tickets are on sale and you can snag yours here. 

In late April 2024, I played my first full round of golf in over 15 years (well, second, if you count a random nine-hole round with my sister’s ex-boyfriend a few years back).

As I shared in episode two of The Scratch Golfer’s Mindset Podcast, it was a humbling experience, to say the least.

I shot a very generous 65 - on nine holes - and cashed in a few mulligans I’d apparently been saving for years.

But then something shifted. As my mindset evolved from merely being interested in becoming a better golfer to fully committing to the journey, I took ownership of my ultimate goal: to become a scratch golfer.

The following months were dedicated to adapting to the challenge of playing 18 holes - a far bigger hurdle than I expected, despite my consistency in the weight room over the past two decades - as well as building a sustainable foundation of fundamentals. 

I focused on keeping honest scores to establish a true starting point.

In time, I broke 100. 

Then, I scored consistently in the 90s. 

And finally, on one unforgettable day in October, I broke 90 for the first time, carding an 87.

Golf has taught me a lot this year - about the game, sure, but even more about myself. It has reignited a flame of competition and self-actualization like never before, shaping the trajectory of this next chapter of my life.

And I’m ready for it.

Today, I’m sharing my goals for 2025, breaking down my thought process and approach to setting both challenging and motivating goals. More importantly, I’m going to challenge you to think about goal-setting differently than you ever have before. 

My hope is that this perspective inspires you to experience your own breakthrough season in 2025.

The first part of this newsletter will break down the exact framework I use. The final section will detail my goals and approach for 2025.

This newsletter edition is also my way of holding myself accountable. As a reader of my newsletter (and someone I’m grateful for), you deserve to see how I don’t just talk the talk - I walk the walk.

Here’s your permission to check in on me. Hold me accountable. 

Let’s tee off!

Why Set A Golf Goal

A goal is more than a destination - it’s a metaphorical aim, directing your energy, attention, and intention toward achieving and experiencing a desired feeling state.

It’s a lens through which you filter your decisions and actions, providing clarity in a world full of distractions. In today’s age of information overload, where every click tempts you with a shiny new object, a well-defined goal acts as your anchor. It offers a place of calm and familiarity to focus on amidst the chaos.

When you’re clear on your goal, decision-making becomes simpler. If an action doesn’t align with your goal, it’s easier to let it go. This clarity reduces overwhelm, boosts confidence, and helps you prioritize what truly matters.

At its core, a goal isn’t just about achieving an external result; it’s about becoming a better version of yourself in the process. Goals are tools for growth, pushing you to step outside your comfort zone and embrace the challenges that come with change.

And as a human being, change is the one constant in life. If you’re not actively growing and evolving (positively changing), you’re stagnating or even regressing (negatively changing).

Goals give purpose to this inevitable change. They channel your efforts into something meaningful and tangible, ensuring you’re not just going through the motions but making progress toward a life that excites and fulfills you.

The Emotional Element of Goal-Setting

It’s not just about what you achieve - it’s about how achieving your goal will make you feel. A well-defined goal connects deeply with your emotions, igniting a sense of purpose and passion that fuels your journey.

Think about the pride you’ll feel when you achieve it. Think about your regret if you don’t give it your all. This emotional connection becomes your lifeline, motivating you when the path gets tough.

A clear goal becomes your compass in a world where distractions are endless. It points you toward what’s important, helping you align your actions, habits, and mindset with your ultimate vision.

This newsletter is about helping you set that compass - to define your goals and create a roadmap for achieving them. Whether you’re aiming to lower your handicap, break through a plateau, or simply bring more enjoyment and purpose to your game, your goal will be the key to unlocking your potential.

Let’s dive into how to set and achieve goals that truly matter.

Goal Achievement Requires an Identity Change

To achieve something different, you must do something different.

To change, you must change.

To do more, you must become more.

Your identity is the foundation of all this - it encompasses your:

• Habits: The actions you consistently take.

• Beliefs: What you believe you’re worthy of, deserving of, and capable of.

• Words and Thoughts (self-talk): The self-talk and language you use daily.
  

Think of goal achievement and identity change as a simple formula:

(Words x Thoughts x Beliefs) x Habits = Identity

If you want to transform your identity, you must change the components that make it up.

The Misconception About "Doing More"

A common trap many fall into is believing that achieving more always requires doing more. Sometimes, that’s true - you may need to practice or meditate more consistently to elevate your game. 

But often, less is more.

The key isn’t quantity - it’s the quality and intention behind each deliberate action.

For example, instead of squeezing in five random range sessions each week, you might see greater progress with two or three focused, intentional sessions tailored to your specific areas for improvement.

Ask Yourself the Most Important Question

To drastically improve your odds of success, start by answering this question:

“Who do I need to become to achieve _____?”

Picture someone - real or imagined - who has already achieved your goal. Then ask yourself:

• How do they speak to and about themselves?

• How do others speak about them?

• What habits, both golf-related and beyond, define their lifestyle?

• How do they carry themselves on and off the course?

• How do they respond to stress, pressure, and adversity?

The clearer your understanding of this identity, the easier it becomes to reverse-engineer their success and prioritize the behavior changes that will help you level up.

Using Identity as a Filter

This clarity also acts as a filter for your decisions. 

For instance, if you’re currently a 12-handicap golfer aspiring to become a scratch golfer, start filtering your actions through this lens.

Ask yourself: “Would a scratch golfer approach practice the way I do?”

If you’re playing twice a week and half-heartedly hitting balls in a simulator once or twice, you’ll quickly realize your approach needs an upgrade. A scratch golfer likely practices with precision and purpose-focused sessions targeting specific areas of improvement.

By aligning your habits and actions with the identity of the golfer you aspire to become, you’ll improve your game and enjoy the process of becoming your best self.

The best ROI my clients experience isn’t on the golf course (though those results are incredible), but instead in how they show each day - for themselves, their loved ones, and their peers.

If you’re serious about getting out of your own way and becoming the best version of yourself (on and off the course), click here to schedule a Mindset Coaching Discovery Call to learn how I can help you get unstuck.

The Goal-Setting Framework - Reverse Engineering

To maximize goal attainment, the key is to reverse-engineer your path to success.

Thanks to the guidance of Dr. Jason Novetsky, who helped refine my clarity and language around this concept, I’ve updated the framework I use to help myself and my clients set more effective goals.

This framework breaks goals into three distinct categories, each serving a unique and essential purpose:

1. Ultimate Goal

2. Performance Goals

3. Process Goals

Ultimate Goal

Your Ultimate Goal is your big-picture destination - your desired result. It should be:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Challenging

• Motivating

• Intimidating (in the best way)

If sharing your ultimate goal makes you pause or feel nervous, that’s a good sign. It means this goal will push you out of your comfort zone - the sweet spot for growth.

This is your North Star, guiding all your time, energy, and effort. 

It’s the achievement of this goal that delivers the indescribable sense of pride, accomplishment, and fulfillment you’re striving for.

Your ultimate goal shapes your performance goals.

Performance Goals

Performance Goals are the measurable milestones that pave the way to your ultimate goal. Think of these as specific and attainable mini-goals that:

• Keep you on track toward your ultimate goal.

• Provide clear, objective feedback on your progress.

• Highlight areas needing adjustment or extra focus.

Achieving these goals won’t guarantee you reach your ultimate goal, but they will ensure you come as close as possible.

For example, if your ultimate goal is to become a scratch golfer, performance goals include lowering your putting average, increasing fairways hit, or shaving strokes off your short game. 

These metrics provide valuable insights into your current trajectory and guide your next steps.

Your performance goals shape your process goals.

Process Goals

Process Goals are the daily and weekly actions that make up the process. This is where the magic happens. Consistency in executing your process goals is the foundation of achieving your ultimate goal.

But here’s the challenge: Consistency.

Sticking to your process goals day in and day out - especially when results feel distant or progress seems slow - will test your discipline more than anything else.

For example, instead of focusing on “getting better,” process goals may include:

• Practicing short putts for 30 minutes three times per week.

• Completing a focused range session targeting your driver twice a week.

• Spending 10 minutes daily on visualization or mindfulness exercises.

By breaking down your big dream into these three tiers, you’ll create a clear, actionable roadmap that keeps you motivated, focused, and steadily improving.

Remember: Success isn’t built on grand gestures - it’s built on the small, deliberate steps you take every day.

Fortunately, I’ve put together a no-BS guide to unlocking consistency on and off the course, which you can read here.

To put it bluntly, you already know what to do to achieve your ultimate goal. 

You don’t have a lack of information problem; you have a mindset problem. 

That’s where I come into play and why so many avid, amateur, and aspiring professional golfers have hired me this off-season so that they can experience a next-level breakthrough in 2025. 

If you’re serious about getting out of your own way and playing to your potential, click here to schedule a Mindset Coaching Discovery Call to learn how I can help you make playing to your potential a habit. 

A Holistic Process to Accelerate Results

Goal-setting becomes most effective when you get granular, breaking down process goals that directly and indirectly facilitate progress toward your ultimate goals.

While focusing solely on technical aspects like your swing or short game during practice is easy, this neglects golf's physical, mental, and emotional aspects. These areas are significant in helping you play to your potential, so defining process goals for each is essential.

Fitness-Specific Process Goals

A successful, consistent golfer isn’t just skilled - they’re strong, mobile, flexible, and powerful. They rotate smoothly through large ranges of motion, possess a strong core, and prioritize minimizing injury risks.

Your exercise routine should reflect your commitment to improving your golf game. Gone are the days of maxing out bench presses and curling in front of the mirror for vanity’s sake. Instead, your workouts should focus on becoming a well-rounded athlete with golf-specific strength and mobility.

What should your routine include?

• Resistance Training: Build strength and power tailored to golf performance.

• Mobility and Flexibility Work: Enhance your range of motion for smoother swings and greater efficiency.

• Core Strength and Rotational Power: Focus on exercises that stabilize and rotate your body effectively.

• Injury Prevention: Incorporate stretching and muscle-specific strengthening to keep you on the course.

If you’re serious about elevating your game, your fitness regimen should align with that commitment. Consider:

• Hiring a coach to create a personalized program.

• Following the Golf Forever program (my personal choice).

• Downloading the Fit for Golf App to guide your workouts.

Whatever you choose, ensure your efforts are purposeful, targeting the key areas that translate directly to your golf performance.

Mental and Emotional Process Goals

The best golfers can access their potential on demand - especially under pressure. They bounce back quickly from bad breaks and mistakes, demonstrating emotional resilience and mental toughness.

But let’s be clear: they’re not robots. 

These players experience the same emotions as anyone else - anger, anxiety, disappointment, and regret. What sets them apart is their ability to manage these emotions and remain calm, collected, and confident when it matters most.

What can you do to strengthen your mental and emotional game?

Cultivate mindfulness: Develop a meditation or breathing practice. This could be guided meditation through an app, box breathing, journaling, or simply sitting in silence. The goal is to create a quiet, reflective space to:

• Build emotional awareness.

• Process your feelings.

• Deepen your understanding of yourself.

• Identify beliefs or habits that no longer serve you.

Seek support: As I often say, asking for help accelerates results. Consider:

• Downloading a meditation or breathing app.

• Working with a therapist to explore deeper emotional patterns.

• Hiring a high-performance hypnotherapist and mindset coach.

Why does this matter?

Working on your emotional and mental game is the greatest gift you can give - not just to yourself but also to your loved ones and your golf game.

The Balance Between Mental and Technical Work

The amount of mental and emotional work you need will depend on your current skill level. A 20-handicap golfer will approach this differently than a single-digit handicapper. However, even at higher handicaps, prioritizing your emotional and mental game now will accelerate your progress.

When combined with technical improvements, mental work helps ingrain new skills faster and ensures that your confidence, focus, and composure elevate alongside your physical abilities.

Remember: Golf isn’t just a game of skill - it’s a game of the mind, body, and heart. Balancing all three will unlock your true potential.

The Power of Knowing Your Why

Once you’re clear on your ultimate goal, the next critical step is understanding exactly why you want to achieve it.

• Why does this goal matter to you?

• Why is it so important?

• Why do you care enough to push through discomfort and make sacrifices?

Your “why” is the emotional fuel that will sustain you during the inevitable grind of the process.

Your Why: The Lifeline in Challenging Moments

There will be days when your plan calls for 20 minutes of indoor putting practice or 30 minutes of long iron work at the range, but the motivation just isn’t there. 

Even if you love the game, practice will undoubtedly feel like a chore at times - especially when tackling indirect process goals like mobility and stretching, where the payoff on the course isn’t immediate.

In these moments, your why becomes your anchor.

It’s what you’ll fall back on when doubt creeps in, when your alarm blares at 5:00 AM for your gym session, or when it’s late, and you’d rather skip your meditation before bed. 

Your why is the juice that keeps you moving forward when it would be so much easier to stop.

Crafting a Strong Why

To leverage this powerful motivator, you need to dig deep:

• Why does your goal matter to you—not anyone else?

• What emotions drive your desire to achieve it? Imagine the pride, satisfaction, and joy you’ll feel when you succeed.

• What will it feel like if you don’t achieve your goal? Tap into the regret, frustration, or disappointment you’d experience.

Your why must be infused with emotion and deeply personal. A clear, strong, and intimate connection to your goal gives you a competitive edge over your peers and playing partners.

Why It Gives You a Competitive Advantage

Each week, when others are skipping a workout or half-heartedly going through the motions at the range, you’re not. Instead, you’re accumulating more quality practice sessions, slowly but surely separating yourself from the pack.

In the long run, it’s these seemingly small choices - driven by your why - that add up to big results.

Know your why. 

Let it fuel you when the road gets tough, and watch as it transforms your game, your mindset, and your ability to achieve your goals.

My Goal-Setting Process

Below, I’ve included every aspect of my reverse-engineered goal-setting framework. 

The outcome is a clear roadmap and plan for what needs to be done and prioritized consistently to achieve my goal.  

2025 Ultimate Goal: I’ll be a five-handicap by the end of December 2025.

My Why: I think you should listen to it directly (tune in to the ~33:00 minute mark, but preferably, listen to the entire episode).

2025 Performance Goals: 

1. 50% fairways hit

2. 48% GIR

3. I average 32 putts per round

2025 Process Goals:

1. 3 resistance training workouts per week

2. 5 Golf Forever workouts per week (three fundamentals and two rotational power)

3. I complete an After-Round Report for each round (in my golf-specific journal)

4. I review my scores and ARR each month to clarify the next month’s intention and priority during practice (in my golf-specific journal)

5. I have two, two-hour practice sessions blocked out on my calendar each week - and I execute on each

6. I become a student of the DECADE Golf course-management system with the end-of-year goal of feeling as if I can confidently teach the system to others

7. I complete 50 pre-shot-routine-included putts and iron shots each week (these are deliberate, high-quality repetitions in my garage).

8. I complete my morning journaling, breathwork, and meditation routine.

9. I cold plunge daily.

Biggest Catalysts and Opportunities:

1. Improve my accuracy with my driver.

2. Improve distance control within 75 yards.

Additional Supporting Goals:

1. I will play 65 rounds in 2025.

2. I will compete in eight tournaments in 2025. 

As a Golf Hypnotherapist, I use hypnosis to unlearn and upgrade outdated, habitual ways of feeling, thinking, and behaving that are holding you back from your potential.

Click here to schedule a Mindset Coaching Discovery Call to learn how I can help you make playing to your potential a habit. 

Your Next Step

There you have it.

My ultimate goal and the first iteration of the blueprint I’ll use to achieve this goal.

If you have any questions, feel free to DM me on Instagram (@thegolfhypnotherapist) or send me an email directly: [email protected]

After reading today’s newsletter, I want you to take the time to complete each step in my goal-setting process. Then, share it with me via email or on social media.

Thank you for reading today’s newsletter.

If you found it valuable, share it with a fellow golfer ready to take their game to the next level.

Until next time,

Paul

P.S. What did you think of today’s newsletter? Reply back / drop a comment below to let me know.

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When you're ready, there are three ways I can help you:

1. Listen to The Scratch Golfer’s Mindset Podcast: Whether you’re an occasional amateur, a weekend regular, or a competitor seeking a tournament trophy or your pro card, this podcast will help you overcome the mental hazards of your mind to shoot more pars than bogeys. Start listening.
   

2. Download My “Play Your Best Round” Hypnosis Audio Recording: Let me help you lock in the level of focus, confidence, and clarity you need to create the mindset necessary to make your next round your best round. Download Your Free Hypnosis Audio.
   

3. 1-1 Mindset Coaching and Hypnotherapy for Golfers: I help golfers overcome the emotional and mental hazards of their minds to shoot lower scores (and have more fun) using hypnosis. Book a free Golf Mental Game Strategy Call Today.