{Storytime}🥷🎯Why Your Mind Is the Real Target!

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Oct '24 (edited) • Intro's & General Discussion

I hadn’t seen my regular Archery coach in weeks, so I was determined to show him the progress I’d made. I practiced hard, especially at further distances, and came to our session ready.

I started off strong, hitting a few dead-center shots—perfect 10s. Coach increased the distance, but I was ready. More 10s and 9s. Full of confidence, I thought, 'I’ve got this.'

Then, he moved the target back further. I hadn’t even realized it could go that far.

🗣️Me: “Where are you going?!?!!”

🗣️Coach: “You’re fine, just shoot.”

More 9s and 10s, so he pushed it back even more. This time, my mind started wandering: How far is that? I wasn’t sure if I’d practiced for that distance.

🗣️Me: How far is that?

🗣️Coach: “POTTS, just shoot.”

🗣️Me: Fine!

I shot a 9, but my focus was wavering.

Finally, I stopped until he answered, “How far is that?!” When he told me, my next shot dropped to a 6.

So, he said he'd move the target closer. I didn’t pay attention to him chatting with someone instead.

I shot a 10, kept hitting 8-10s. But, here’s the twist—he hadn’t brought it closer at all. He actually pushed it further than before. At full draw I sensed it looked further, but he said it was closer—he wouldn’t lie to me, right?

My best shots came when I "thought" the target was easier to hit, and didn't overthink the distance.

➡️That’s when he explained: Archery is all mental. The real challenge wasn’t the target—it was my mind.

This experience took me straight back to what Napoleon Hill talks about in Think and Grow Rich: you must direct your mind and not allow doubt to take over.

Russell said something similar during the Selling Online event: the biggest obstacle is the 6 inches between your ears. When I let go of the doubts and focused on the task at hand, I hit my mark. The moment my mind started wandering—questioning the distance, my arrows, or even my hair being in the way (perfectly fine in a ponytail 😁)—I stumbled. It was odd, my mind was making up obstacles that didn’t even exist.

➡️ He said, 'In business, in archery, in life—the battlefield is mental. Master that, and everything else follows.' Sound familiar?

🥷That's the gameplan for the week, execute against the battlefield in the mind while staying focused on what's in front of me over the next seven days!

How about you? Has your mind ever been in the way?

Cheers to a great week, Prime Movers!🤝

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