907. How to Be a Yogi on the Green

Victor Stringer

“Everything we do in our life is a matter of choice. I know at one point in my life I was having some difficulty trying to focus on what I wanted to do. My life has been scattered all over and I literally sometimes sit down and go, ‘How did I get to where I am?‘ I look at 78 years of my life and I’ve done a lot of things. I’ve had incredible experiences. I’ve done things that I would have never imagined that I could do, but I’ve tried. I made choices in my life, not all have been great, but at least I have learned from them.”

Victor Stringer is 78-years-old and started playing golf 30 years ago, and at one point had a 3 handicap. When Stringer incorporated yoga into his life, this brought him joy and helped him emotionally, mentally and physically on and off the golf course. He is a certified Kundalini yoga instructor, as well as a member of the Kundalini 3Ho Foundation International and a member of the Southern California Golf Association. He is also the author of “Yogi on the Green,” a #1 international best-selling book. Victor has a B.S. in Criminal Justice, a Masters in Public Administration, and a Juris Doctorate. A U.S. Customs broker and freight forwarder, Stringer is the owner and president of the global company, VR Camelot, Inc.

The Most Impactful Turning Point?

“I was 11 units short of my doctorate when it was time to deal with my dissertation, and I wanted to do my dissertation on the Constitution. The same professor who encouraged me to get my master’s suggested that I go to law school just long enough to get constitutional law under my belt. I got to law school, got hooked on studying the law, and graduated from Western State in three years. I did work with an attorney for a couple of years after I got out of law school. It’s just that I never really felt comfortable with the practice, so I decided not to practice. I began working with a private investigation company, and I ended up owning that company. That’s where I got started.”

The Most Powerful Lessons and Experiences?

1. “One night I sat down and I just ‘visualized’ hanging a graduation robe from law school in the closet. I just put it there. And 14 years later I was a lawyer. I know I worked to get there, but coming from my background and having the life as a child that I had, I could never have imagined that would be possible. So I think it’s just steps of building your life and looking at your life and visualizing what you want.”

2. “I tell my staff sometimes when things get really rough, ‘When you get up in the morning, go look in the mirror and say I want to be the very best that I can be today. And then if you do that and you go home at night and before you go to bed, go look in that same mirror and say, ‘Was I everything that I could be today? If not, what do I need to work on?’ “

3. “I think you have to take chances in your life, and sometimes they work out, sometimes they don’t. But you cannot be destroying yourself because of the things that you really want to do. You know, vice admiral, U.S. Navy James Stockdale said once about his time as a prisoner in Vietnam, ‘You are going to have to beat me. I’m not going to give in. I’m not going to surrender who I am.’ Well, he survived that prison time, and he came out as a better person for it. There are a lot of great people in history that you can look to.”

4. “I think it’s important to journal, write something every single day, or read something that’s inspirational every single day. It kind of keeps you grounded, keeps you in a space where you can take on the dark times of your life and make them become light. You know, it doesn’t matter how bad things are and how it can tear you up. If you can find something positive in it, then you are one step closer to where you want to be.”

5. “I went through a personal crisis in my life, and a friend of mine suggested that perhaps I should take up yoga. I said, ‘What the hell is yoga?’ He invited me to go to a yoga class with him up in Los Angeles. What yoga has done for me over my lifetime is stabilize me, bring me to a place of awareness of who I am–although I’m constantly working on who I am, hopefully. Psychologically it’s good. Mentally it’s good. Physically it is terrific. When I started practicing yoga, I weighed 260 pounds. I now weigh between 190 and 200. That’s been over 20 years. It’s not something I’ve done deliberately. It’s just something that has happened.”