“Shoot for the moon… if you miss it at least you will be among the stars.”
I have heard this statement, or something similar, from many a motivational speaker. The idea, of course, is to reach for lofty goals. Why not? This is your life, after all. It seems sensible to live it the way you want. And it does make sense that you will find yourself somewhere improved if you reach for everything you want. If you don’t, it is pretty certain you will stay just where you are.
When a white belt takes their first belt test and are presented with the first board they must break, they sometimes have difficulty. They whack away at the board, slapping it hard but never breaking it. If it goes on too long, their hand will really start to hurt.
My teacher would just tap himself on the chest and say “I want you to hit me right here,” and then hold the board out in front of the spot he had tapped.
“Go through the board and hit me.”
It worked just about every time. Just thinking about hitting a different target, one farther away than the board, was enough for those white belts to make the shift. They would blast through the board and never hit him in the chest at all.
Kinda the same thing, I think. Maybe you want to shoot for the moon so you can at least get yourself to the stars.
And maybe you just want to go through the board.
Either way, aim for what you want and put some energy into it. Go for your dreams. What are you waiting for?
