The Archer, Stay Focused:: October 2008

By Andrew Burnham - October 28, 2008

Product Resouces

Awareness

Attention is a Skill

Dividing your attention in critical moments between what you are doing and the goal decreases your skills. When you are just putting you make the shot more often than when you are golfing with clients or colleagues. You sing in tune at home but are a disaster at a Karaoke bar. You plan out your killer presentation the night before but fumble in front of them the next day. Like the archer, your skills did not change. You were less than effective because you were focused more on winning than on shooting.

Look at the times when you performed less than expected or experienced accidents and mistakes and you will notice that the culprit is often your lack of focus. Your skills did not simply vanish into thin air!

More attention: Better results

When it comes time to shoot, monitor your mind and constantly bring it back to this moment, this action, to what is happening now. You cannot possibly deal effectively with something that is merely imagined: the future. Nor can you deal effectively with what is actually happening right now if you do not have some power over the goings and comings of your own mind.

What about Goals?

You may be asking ‘You mean I should not think about my goals?’ Once you know your objectives stay focused on process. What are you doing right now to move toward the goal? In moments of relative quiet, when necessary, or when planning it is wise to focus on your goal.