Hitting the Mark: Achieving Goals with Intention
The marks person hits the mark partly by pulling, partly by letting go.
A Kemetic Proverb
The ancient saying above still provides wisdom for us today. And although I am not an archer, I had set my eye on a ‘mark’ and poised my ‘bow and arrow’ in order to hit it. In other words, I had a vision to accomplish a particular goal, prepared to meet the goal and got ready to make it happen. Hitting the mark requires just the right amount of tension and the awareness of just when to let the arrow fly.
In my case, my mark is my first website. I did almost everything that was recommended and that I knew to do. I had an amazing consultant who had the patience of a saint. I did everything she told me to do. Well, most of what she told me. She worked with me gently when I needed gentleness, and sternly when I needed that. Together we created an incredibly intuitive website that I think is absolutely beautiful! My task was to get the site lauched and to be sure I had at least 4 blogs written so that I could then post one each week and write one or two each week going forward. This is where I missed my mark. I saw my mark, my bow was pulled back and I was ready to hit my mark. Overcommitting to do several wonderful and very important things, family emergencies, and other life challenges, threw my tension off. As a result, nine weeks slipped away incredibly quickly.
But, here I am -- to pick up where I left off. Because I know that what I’m doing is what I’m supposed to be doing. And I am the only one who can hit my mark.
There are times for all of us, I believe, when we miss our mark. We have set our sights, we can see our mark, and we have pulled the arrow back, ready to hit the bulls eye. Then, something happens and we fall short of our own goals, expectations and hopes for ourselves. We find ourselves disappointed in ourselves and struggling to trust ourselves to do better.
But, these are the very times acceptance is most important. That tension of preparation and acceptance of ourselves, our human limitations and of life itself has to be just right. Missing the mark is not the end of the story. It is the time to reset our view of the target, pick up our bow and arrow and try again.
We can hit our mark much more often when we remember to practice both pulling and letting go.
Pulling is the work we do to prepare, to get everything ready to go, to make sure everthing is in place. It is finding the tension point that is right for us.
What is it we really want to accomplish? Why do we want to accomplish it? Is our motivation internal or external?
I am finding more and more, that if our motivation is not internal, it will soon fade, and that which had been a vision loses its attraction. But when it is a call from within, a compelling pull on our hearts, a vision with a sense of urgency, then it will not let us go and it will be fulfilled – sooner or later.
This vision we have, to paint a picture, or start a business, or write a book, or be the best teacher or nurse or doctor or engenieer or politician or stay-at-home mother or wife or friend or daughter we can be – or whatever we have hidden in our hearts – this vision is in us because we are the only one who can bring it to pass. We are the one who was created to mainifest it. So whether we start out doing everything exactly right, or make mistakes along the way – which is much more likely – it is our sheer determination and surrender to the Spirit within us that will ultimately bring the vision into reality.
This is the time we must must let go. Not only of that which we have prepared, but of those things/people/habits -- that do not directly support the mark we are aiming to reach.
The more we practice, the better we get!
So, for me, I can see my mark, my bow and arrow are ready, the tension feels just right.
BULLSEYE!
Check out my “Work with Me” page for ways you can create time and space to focus on your goals!