Wherever You Look

Some years ago, my grandfather taught me how to play billiards. After he passed away, my dad continued to teach me. My dad has also taught me how to shoot, play ping pong, play baseball, throw a football, etc. One thing that all of these activities have in common is that you must aim. Whether you are shooting for the left corner pocket or that flying clay pigeon, aiming is essential. I’ve heard it said that if you aim at nothing, you will hit it. I’m not even going to attempt to be Mike Russell and teach you to make every shot in pool.

What I will tell you is that you can count on your path and life to follow your gaze. Ever noticed when you’re driving that as you turn onto a new street, you stop looking at the street you were on and you begin to look past the turn? Sometimes your rear tire may bounce over the curb if you’re not careful, but you just continue looking where you’re going. Looking too frequently at where you’ve been leads to big problems. I’m sure you golfers could imagine a similar scenario (imagine stopping your gaze at the tee instead of following your swing and the ball).

I believe the same is true in life: looking where you’re going (or where you want to go) will help you get there. Too much looking back will get you in trouble. Don’t get me wrong. There are times that we must look in the proverbial rear-view mirror and see where we’ve been. Without doing so, we may not fully appreciate where we’re heading. Too, without occasionally looking back, we may hit the same types of potholes we’ve hit in the past. In high school, I did some competitive running. One thing that always concerned me was how close was the person behind me to catching up to me. What my coaches always told me was that for each glance backward, I’d lose one step. Now, imagine when I constantly looked behind me. I could always count on letting someone else beat me if I was watching their race. When I watched my own race and focused on my stuff, I always did much better. Again, the same is true in business. If you’re constantly focused on the competition’s race, you’ll watch them beat you. Watch your own race.

So, where do you want to be in a year? What about five years? Take some time to write it down and put it somewhere you’ll see your goals every day. I guarantee that seeing your goals and dreams (on paper) on a regular basis will help keep you energized, motivated, and from doing things that would distract you from reaching your goals. I’d love to hear some of your goals and strategies for achieving your goals in the comments.

Published October 2, 2012 by Toby Chin