Professional golfer Phil Mickelson is one of golf’s great athletes. Recently, his wife Amy was diagnosed with cancer, and his mother as well. Mickelson took time off from the Professional Golfers’ Association tour to care for them. Lately he returned. He told the press:

I’ve always loved competing, whether it was for a soda, a golf ball, tees, or on the PGA TOUR for huge purses. I missed the competition. I also just miss being on the golf course. It’s where I’ve grown up, and I just love this game of golf.

It occurred to me, reading this, that often we learn about what we love most only when they are gone or missing. In everyday life, we simply act on habit and take those crucial parts of our lives for granted — activities, jobs, work, skills, professions and loved ones. 

Here is a mental action-learning exercise to try, based on this insight. Practice ‘mental subtraction’. Take away some things from your life — your profession, friends, people, possessions. Picture your life without one thing. How does it feel? We can improve our lives immensely by subtracting parts that are burdensome, unnecessary and unhappy. We can also improve our self-awareness by learning through ‘mental subtraction’ which parts of our lives bring us true happiness — like Phil Mickelson. 

What does ‘mental subtraction’ tell you? Listen to it — and then act. 

Phil Mickelson and wife Amy

Phil Mickelson and wife Amy