A few days ago, I was playing golf with some colleagues. One of the members of our flight explained that his whole point was to enjoy being outside and having fun with the game. It seemed to be a well-applied life skill.

It lasted until the third hole when he had to overcome a water obstacle. Suddenly his posture and swing changed. It was as if hitting the ball made him anxious to succeed in lifting the ball, all of his training seemed to have disappeared and his whole body made a movement supposed to help the club move under the ball. Golfer’s call this spooning. He seemed to have the image of a spoon in mind with which he knew how to lift something from the ground. His body adapted the movement he was making to that idea. He wasn’t connected to the actual construction of the club. A club with a length and angle of the club face requiring him to hit the ball on the side or even slightly above to lift the ball.

Concepts resemble images in the mind we carry around. A spoon serves to lift objects; our body aligns with that concept. A successful golf round is one where the ball always flies well. The mind resists dealing with moments in which it doesn’t happen using judgment.

Humans are built to achieve what their mind presents them with. The mind has the extraordinary capacity to use images or some other form of concept that allows the individual to visualize or imagine the achievement they seek. Naturally, the mind can only use the ideas in the state of development it is in that instant.

These ideas are extraordinarily useful shortcuts. They allow getting started without knowing how to succeed. These ideas also apply to all kinds of areas of life. The drawback is that they are aligned with our idea of success. If leadership is imagined as being a hero, or as having the answers, it’s also how achievements will be measured.

Being open to what is present, to the circumstances as they are allows us to take in information that can complement one’s image in the mind. It’s one of the ways to think about learning. It’s a type of learning that serves life skills as well as leadership skills.

And in the case of my fellow golfer, he reminded me of going back to the laws of physics. His movement helped me see what I need to be more curious about to change how I swing the club. The beauty of this type of learning is that the next time I’m in a similar situation I’ll experience a different learning.