No matter what age we are, it’s sometimes easy to tell ourselves that somehow we can’t accomplish our goals, whatever they are.
But GO Marine Services Managing Director Jody Broussard, whose success has long centered around his love of leadership and motivating others to do their best, recently set a great example of how anyone can accomplish their dreams. To do it, he relied on determination, hard work and a steadfast belief in himself.
“I’ll be out of the office next week pursuing a lifelong dream. I’m hoping to return with some great news to share, but no matter the outcome, I’ll be back,” he wrote in a mysterious email to the Guice Offshore and GO Marine Services teams.
When Jody returned, it was with an eye-popping second-place finish in the GolfWeek Senior Amateur Tour National Championship.
Wait . . . what? How does someone go from not regularly playing golf to nearly winning a championship?
“In fact, I narrowly missed the win by just one stroke on the 18th hole. Although it was bittersweet to come so close, I found comfort in knowing I finished only behind last year’s champion—not just anyone new to the winner’s circle. This experience reinforced something I’ve always believed: life is about giving your best to the things you care about and doing your best to fill your life with things that matter to you,” he said. “Whether it’s golf, work, or any other pursuit, dream big and give everything you CAN to turn those dreams into reality.”
But more importantly, what specific skills can others take from Jody’s accomplishment to achieve that kind of success for themselves?
He explained that, first, he focused on immediately immersing himself into serious competition, instead of casual games with friends. He also studied what the other players weren’t doing and used his careful analysis to give himself a competitive advantage.
Fear of winning is an excuse to lose, he noted.
“Pretty much every player can hit the ball,” he said. “It’s more about how well they hit it when they’re doing it in front of a bunch of people.”
“I’m going to win next year,” he promised. “I will dedicate myself and put a plan together.”
Jody added that it’s important to understand that you can’t be good at everything. Choose your goals carefully and do them to the fullest by dedicating your full attention to them, which matters more than winning or losing, he said.
Next, ignore the haters and naysayers.
“I didn’t care what anyone else thought,” he said. “I didn’t care if they thought I was out of my mind to try and win an important golf championship after so many years. Why do anything if you’re not planning to do it well?”
Ironically, he said he finds golf tournaments so appealing because they makes him uncomfortable by testing all the things he doesn’t think he’s good at, like patience. In order to grow, he explained, it’s important to get outside your own comfort zone in order to push yourself.
“Once you stop growing, you stop living,” he said. “At age 54, I don’t ever want to get to the point where I’m not looking to accomplish the next big thing. It’s up to us to believe in ourselves and our dreams—no one else can do that for us.”
“The golf tournament winner was 71 years old and in such good physical shape, he looked like he could go play pro football tomorrow,” Jody laughed. “I suspect he knows my secret of achieving your dreams, too!”
Take a Deeper Dive Into How Jody Did It
A lifelong golfer, Jody stepped away from the sport in 2018 to help coach his youngest daughter, who was just starting high school and played on the volleyball team.
The tour offers golfers aged 50 and older across all skill levels the opportunity to compete on championship-level courses throughout the state. The top 10 players from each flight and the winners of regional events earn a spot at the National Tour Championship—a 36-hole event in Hilton Head, South Carolina, where amateurs from 28 state tours come to compete.“If you think about it, there’s not a lot of differences among professional players between how far they hit the ball, so the most talented golfers in the world among them should win a tournament at least once or twice a year, but they don’t. With all the resources available out there to help create the perfect golf swing out there, everyone should be scoring higher, but they aren’t,” Jody pointed out.
In fact, he said, scoring averages on professional tours have dropped, and the average handicap is still the same as it was 20 years ago and, in some instances, even higher.
“The average player might hit that perfect practice shot just four times in an actual round, and many rarely go practice chipping and putting, even though 60 percent of a game’s shots are taken from within 50 yards of the green,” Jody noted.
By focusing on the opportunity presented by the typical shortcomings of his competition, while immersing himself in the pressures of tournaments rather than a more relaxed game with friends, Jody was able to surmount the mental pressures of the game when it counted most.
“Whether it’s golf, work, or any other pursuit, you can dream big and give everything you can to turn those dreams into reality. That’s the spirit I brought to the championship, and it’s the same spirit I bring to GO Marine Services as we bring the best service to our clients in the offshore maritime industry,” he said.
