Summary
Joe Hudson reacts to an interview with golf’s world number one — widely understood to be Scottie Scheffler — who openly admits that winning fills him for only a couple of minutes before the question becomes “now what?” Joe uses the clip to illustrate something he’s watched happen again and again in his coaching: people reach the dream and discover it didn’t fill the hole. He’s met hundred-millionaires who are miserable, asking “wait, I thought this was supposed to fix it.”
Joe draws out two layers. The first is the futility the golfer names — every win and every loss comes and goes, and the head immediately demands the next thing. Rather than treating this as bleak, Joe reframes it as freedom: if nothing lasts and you’ll never get everything, you’re free to simply enjoy the present moment. He cites the idea (which he attributes to Eckhart Tolle) that winning feels good precisely because for a minute or two you stop thinking about what you have to do next.
The deeper moment Joe says he looks for is when a high performer realizes nothing external will ever make them whole. That recognition is the doorway. Instead of chasing the next achievement to fill the empty space, you can turn toward the empty space itself — stop avoiding it, get curious about what’s actually there, and fall in love with it. That, Joe says, is where the real transformation begins and the whole identity can shift.
Key Concepts
- Achievement never fills the hole it promises to fill
- Seeing that winning and losing both pass is freedom, not despair
- Winning feels good because you briefly stop needing the next thing
- The empty space you’ve been avoiding is the path to freedom
Key Quotes
“I cannot tell you how many people I’ve met who have gotten their dreams and then they’re like, wait, I got everything I wanted, but it’s not actually what I needed.”
“The reason that winning feels so good… is because for one or two minutes you’re not thinking about what you have to do next.”
“Everything comes and goes. Like winning or losing, it all comes and goes. And so, if that’s true, then you have freedom.”
“Oh, I’m not going to be made whole by anything externally. Maybe I’m never going to be made whole by anything.”
“The thing that I’ve been avoiding my whole life has been the most direct path to freedom that I’ve ever found.”
Transcript
Why do I want to win this golf tournament so badly? Why do I want to win the Open Championship so badly? I don’t know. I love putting in the work. I love being able to practice. I love getting out to live out my dreams, but at the end of the day, sometimes I just don’t understand the point, you know, because >> [laughter] >> So, this is amazing. I cannot tell you how many people I’ve met who have, you know, gotten their dreams and then they’re like, wait, I got everything I wanted, but it’s it’s not actually what I needed. Chris Williamson from Modern Wisdom asked me to do a reaction video to this particular video. And it’s from clearly a winning golf champion and his discussion on what it’s like to be number one. Okay, here we go. Hey Scotty, it seems to me that you care about as much about being ranked number one as you do about being a favorite here, which is not a lot. Um, I don’t know if this is a fair assessment, but there’s a lot of guys that we have encountered over the years who have been uncomfortable being at the top at number one. And I’m curious what about you do you feel like makes you feel so comfortable? And because it outwardly it seems like it you just kind of cruise along and and nothing really phases you. Well, So, before I even go into that, he’s clearly a little uncomfortable with the question. You could see the mouth move and everything like that, but let’s see what he has to say. Yeah, I think the rankings are you Being number one in the world is is a great accomplishment. I think as a golfer, I think as a professional to be ranked as as the best in the world, I think is a is a huge career accomplishment. I don’t think that it should be taken lightly, but you don’t become number one in the world by thinking about rankings. You don’t stay number one in the world thinking about rankings. You know, each tournament is its own challenge and um, you know, it’s funny. It’s like the Look at this week, for example. What’s the best case scenario is I win this golf tournament and then I’m going to show up in Memphis and it’s like, okay, listen, you know, you won two majors this year. What are you going to do this week? That that that’s the question you’re going to get asked. And if I come in second this week or if I finish dead last, it’s no matter what happens, we’re always onto the next week. And so, that’s one of the beautiful things about golf and it’s also one of the frustrating things because you can have such great accomplishments, but you know, the show goes on and um, that’s just how it is, you know, it’s it’s great to to win tournaments. It’s a lot of fun. Um, sometimes the feeling only lasts about two minutes, it seems like, you know, when you’re celebrating and then it’s like, okay, now you got to go do all this other stuff and um, which is great, but you know, sometimes the feeling of winning only lasts a few seconds and um, you know, it’s pretty Yeah, that’s great. >> exciting and fun, but it just doesn’t last that long. That’s amazing. So, he’s actually seen through the the the disguise of success. So, what he’s saying is that no matter what, if you’ve succeeded in anything, now he’s using golf, but he’s saying like, if I’ve succeeded, then the question is, well, then what are you going to do next? Which is exactly how the our head works. That’s how people treat us from the outside. You’ve grown this business, now what’s the next business you’re going to grow? What’s Are you can’t rest on your laurels, all those things. And but the thing that he’s saying that’s even cooler than that is he said, oh, the the feeling of winning only lasts for like a couple of minutes. And I once heard somebody say this, and I think it might have been Eckhart Tolle, but I really appreciated it. He said, the reason that winning feels so good or getting to the top of the mountain feels so good or that achievement feels is so good is because for one or two minutes or for one or two days you’re not thinking about what you have to do next. You’re not thinking about what’s the next thing that I have to do so that I can blah blah blah blah. For one or two minutes, you can just be in the moment, just be present. There’s a great feeling to winning, which he clearly acknowledges. Uh, but the I think the cooler part to what he’s saying is to seeing that the everything comes and goes. Everything’s futile in is one way to say it. And some people think that that’s like a very sad way to think about life. Like, oh, what’s the meaning of all of it? Why even live? It’s not that. It’s just like All right, everything comes and goes. Like winning or losing, it all comes and goes. And so, if that’s true, then you have freedom. Then you have this freedom to say, oh, I get to actually enjoy because no matter what is happening there’s always going to be the next thing. There’s always going to be the next failure or the next win. You’re not going to get everything. So, it’s actually really quite beautiful. Like I really I really loved his answer. What would be the longest you’ve ever ever celebrated something? And and what was the most crushing loss or or the the time it took to get over one? Um, you know, I think it’s kind of funny. I think you know, I I think I said something after the Byron this year about like it feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes, that kind of euphoric feeling. And I like to win the Byron Nelson Championship at home. I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf, to have an opportunity to win that tournament. And you win it, you celebrate, get to hug hug my family, my sister’s there. It’s such an amazing moment. And then it’s like, okay, now now what are we going to eat for dinner? You know, life goes on. This Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, I mean, it it brings tears to my eyes just to think about because it’s literally worked my entire life to become good at the sport and to have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think is is a pretty cool feeling, you know, to get to live out your dreams is very special. But at the end of the day, it’s like, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I don’t I’m not here to inspire somebody else to be the best player in the world because what’s the point? You know, this is not a fulfilling life. It’s it’s fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it’s not fulfilling from a sense of like the deepest, places of your heart. You know, there’s a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfill them in life. And then you get there and all of a sudden, you get to number one in the world and then they’re like, what’s the point? And you know, I I really do believe that because you know, what what is the point? You’re like, what why do I want to win this tournament so bad? That’s something that I wrestle with on a daily basis. It’s like, showing up at the Masters every year, it’s like, why do I want to win this golf tournament so badly? Why do I want to win the Open Championship so badly? I don’t know. Because if I win, it’s going to be awesome for about two minutes. And then we’re going to get to the next week and it’s going to be like, hey, you won two majors this year. How important is it for you to win the FedEx Cup playoffs? And it’s just like, we’re we’re back here again, you know? Um, so we really do. We work so hard for such little moments and um, you know, I’m kind of a sicko. I I love putting in the work. I love being able to practice. I love getting out to live out my dreams, but at the end of the day, sometimes I just don’t understand the point, you know, because >> I I don’t know if I’m making any sense or not, but am I not? >> It’s just it’s just one of those deals, you know, I I love the challenge. I love being able to play this game for a living. It’s it’s one of the greatest joys of my life, but does it fill the deepest, you know, wants and desires of my heart? Absolutely not. So, there’s this um, I was just talking uh, with Dr. K the other day and he was talking about how in the scriptures the people who become enlightened are the kings. They’re not the holy men, but they’re the kings that often become enlightened. And the thinking there and and something that I’ve seen happen a lot is that you think something’s going to fulfill you. You think that you’re going to be fulfilled by money or by people loving you or by fame or by getting a lot of sex or whatever it is. And then you get all that stuff and you’re like, whoa, the the hole is not filled. The gap isn’t filled. And and like, why am I doing this? And I cannot tell you how many people I’ve met who have, you know, And and how many people have, you know, become 100 millionaires that I know who are miserable and they’re saying, wait, I thought this was supposed to fix it. and this guy’s basically saying the same thing. But what’s even cooler about him saying the same thing is like, and there’s this idea that I have that I have a drive. That I still want to go out and win. He is just like, this is my joy. I love the practice. I love doing this thing. And so, I do it. But it doesn’t fulfill me. It doesn’t And and it’s even he’s weird about that part, too, cuz he clearly there’s some fulfillment in the practice. And there’s the fulfillment of doing it. But what he’s saying is that at the end of the day, this isn’t this isn’t going to make me whole. And that’s the coolest part is to when you get to the place where you realize, oh, I’m not going to be made whole by anything externally. Maybe I’m never going to be made whole by anything. What is it like to go find out what that big empty space that I’ve been trying to fill? What is actually there? What’s actually going on there? How do I actually fall in love with that? How do I enter into that? How do I stop avoiding that? That’s that’s where the transformational journey gets really good. That’s where the whole identity can shift. And all of a sudden, you can look up and you can say, oh, right, the thing that I’ve been avoiding my whole life has been the most direct path to freedom that I’ve ever found.