“Tiger, Tiger, Tiger,” these are the words that could be heard for more than a decade at every PGA golf course. If you were to travel the world, you would see billboards everywhere with a picture of Tiger on them. At one time, Tiger Woods was the biggest athlete on the planet.

I finished reading the biography Tiger Woods about 5 days ago. I usually read when I wake up for 20 minutes and before I go to bed. At night and in the morning, I enjoy reading stories about people.

This book told the story of Tiger’s childhood through the end of 2017, including his insane golf career, personal ups and downs with his family, the cheating that went on, his Navy Seals training, and the story of his professional relationships.

I enjoy reading books like this to learn more about the intimate story of a person.

There are 3 main takeaways I have from this book:

1.Who are you?

When all of the news came out about how many women Tiger was sleeping with and the news was going nuts about scandal, Tiger ended up in sex addiction rehab. When he came out of it, he stated it was the first time he has thought about who he was, really. He had to focus on “who Tiger really is” as a person and not a golf robot.

This is something I have been going through as well over the past 5 months since Ruby was born – discovering “what makes Mike tick” and really being there for myself.

I would say most of it comes back to listening to what my body is telling me. This was something Tiger was learning to do in rehab as well.

2. When the focus is on winning, what do you really have?

Don’t get me wrong, I am a person who loves to win at competitions, but I am talking more about the obsession that comes with performing at a very high level of competition. I admire the people who are able to perform at such a high level and continue to have relationships with people around them. It doesn’t mean you have to stay married to the same person forever, but at least be kind to people.

This is what Tiger really lacked in his life; he basically had no friends (according to this book) that he kept close to him when he needed them the most. People would reach out, but he would ignore them. I mean he was married to Elin but slept with 100+ women during their marriage.  His goal was to be the best at everything, so the more women he could sleep with, the more of a champion he felt he was.

This meant everything in his life became a drive to be a champion in all aspects of life. The more women, the more money, the more trophies, the more tournament wins…the game of more continued.

This led to a man who had everything but really had nothing.

When he was at his lowest point, he was by himself and cut off everyone else.

Winning isn’t everything.

3. The effort is everything

There is no shortage of effort when it comes to Tiger Woods. This man has been shamed in public more than I will ever know and more than most people in the world will ever experience.

The one thing that has been consistent in his life is the effort he has put into being a better golfer. He would change his swing and dedicate himself to becoming a better golfer to improve the swing. He would hit balls longer and harder than anyone else on the tour.  

When I think back to career, I am coming up on my 10-year anniversary of being laid off from Philip Morris and starting my own business. It is the effort I have put into building this business that has led me to success. This success is defined differently for everyone, but as I sit here in my kitchen typing this post, for me, it has come true.

Being able to see my two girls everyday and as they grow up, plus working with Kate – and much more – for me, my life is successful.

Please determine your definition of success and put in tons of effort to make it a reality.