SEARCHING FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MEDAL.. I found something better
Searching for prized medals led Danielle McVeigh down a completely different path
GUEST COLUMN: DANIELLE McVEIGH
June 12, 2025
It all started with a little medal from a Tuesday night golf competition. Nothing major. I came second and brought the prize home to my three-year-old, Tommy.
To him, you’d think I’d just won The Masters. He was absolutely delighted, insisting it be placed on the shelf by his bed. I found it hilarious. Of all the trophies from my professional career, this was the one he thought was the coolest.
It got me thinking about the ‘proper’ medals. Back in 2007, I won a gold and a silver at the World University Games in Thailand – a proper, heavy, Olympic-style set. Where were they? I had a vague notion they were gathering dust in a box somewhere in my mum’s attic.
So, a week later, I’m at my mum’s, on a treasure hunt. I was picturing this grand moment of showing Tommy what a ‘real’ medal looked like. I rummaged through dusty boxes, a wave of nostalgia washing over me... but no medals. They were nowhere to be found.
DIARY INPUT
What I did find, however, was a stack of old diaries.
Page after page, from 2008 to 2011, detailed the absolute peak of my playing days. And as I sat there on the dusty floorboards and started to read, I was hit by a tidal wave of complicated emotions.
You see, I had this ritual back then. After every single round, good or bad, I’d write down my three best shots of the day. I didn’t just list them; I described the feel, the focus, the visualisation – picking a target the size of a tuft of grass, seeing the ball’s flight before I even swung.
Reading it back was an unexpected, powerful jolt of confidence. I was reading about a young woman who was incredibly skilled, focused, and resilient. I even found a quote I’d scrawled after a frustrating round of 75: "Even though I hit a few bad shots, I knew I had the talent and the skills to hit a good shot and come back." I felt this immense pride in the unconditional self-belief I used to have
But here’s where it got complicated.
Alongside the pride was a quiet, nagging pang of… unfulfilled potential. On one page, my long-term goals were written in big, bold letters: "Make the 2011 Solheim Cup team" and "Become the Number 1 player in the world."
I didn’t get close.
It was a strange, bittersweet cocktail. Pride in the process, but a gut-punch of disappointment in the outcome. It felt like I’d built this incredible engine but never quite reached the destination I’d programmed into the GPS.
For a moment, I just sat there with that feeling. The heavy weight of ‘what if’.
But then, something shifted. The resolution wasn’t about finding the medals or dwelling on missed targets. The real treasure was right here, in these diaries. The value wasn't in the trophies, but in the process I’d so meticulously recorded.
That habit of writing down my three best shots wasn't just about golf. It was about training my brain to find the positive, to build resilience, to prove to myself, day after day, that I had what it takes.
I’m still doing it today, just in a different arena. For the last few years, I’ve kept a gratitude journal. Recently, I tweaked it to write down one thing I’m grateful for about myself each day. It’s the exact same muscle I was building 15 years ago, just in a different gym.
The destination I set back then was never reached. But the journey gave me a resilience and a set of tools I now use every single day as a parent and a partner. I can see now how the skills transferred. I’m at peace with it.
LIFE LESSON
And that’s the real lesson from my dusty attic discovery.
In our careers, we’re often so focused on the next rung of the ladder – the promotion, the title, the next big win. But if you’re always looking up, you miss the view from where you are. You miss the evidence of your own growth.
So, here’s my invitation to you:
Document Your Wins: At the end of each week, write down three things you did well. Not just huge achievements. Maybe you handled a difficult meeting with grace, finally got your head around a complex project, or simply supported a colleague who was struggling. Acknowledge your small victories.
Be Where Your Feet Are: All we truly have is the present moment. When you’re working, be fully there. When you’re with your family, put the phone away and be with them. Presence is a practice, not a destination.
Practice Self-Compassion: Some days are 68s, some are 75s. You won't be at 100% every day. On the tough days, have the compassion to adjust. Getting one important thing done well is still a win.
I haven’t yet found the medals. But I found proof of the daily habits that earned them. And those habits of resilience and positive focus are worth more than any piece of gold.
You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So start creating good dots.
What's one "small win" you've had this week? I'd love to hear it.