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Are you aiming at your target?

2/9/2014

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The well known South African golfer and golf presenter Dale Hayes has said many times that he has never in the history of golf seen a hole go to a golf ball.  You have to actually hit the golf ball to the hole - that simple.  Any golfer will be painfully aware of this simple truth in putting skill: the challenge of putting is to aim your shot at the target, the hole, taking into consideration the distance and the obstacles of slope and green speed.  If you do not aim your shot at the hole you will simply not hear that little sound of victory when the ball drops into the hole.  You have to aim at your target.

This is also true in life.  I have come across this brilliant quote that you will see in the picture: "The odds of hitting your target go up dramatically when you aim at it."  For this to be true, in the first place, you need to have a target.  Do you have targets in your life?  Hopefully so.  Some people create the impression that they are living aimlessly - they do not really have a plan, they live from moment to moment.  There is another saying that you cannot get lost if you do not know where you are going.  And if you do not now where you are going, staying just where you are is always a safe choice.  But a very poor choice.  Because if you do not move you will fall behind.  That is life.

We need to set goals and targets for ourselves. This must happen on a daily basis and on many fronts.  We need to decide where we are going.  When you plan your life, in general, your career, your retirement, your next holiday, your next big assignment at your place of work, your week, your day today or tomorrow, you need to set yourself targets.  And then the most important thing is to aim at it.  You have to take actions, do stuff, move from where you are towards your target.  And you fill find in life that many times you miss your target at first.  Sometimes we even have to redefine our targets.  But the odds of success go up dramatically when you have targets and you aim at it.  That is called purposeful living.

Nowadays a lot of people are getting depressed about circumstances around them.  Politics, the economy, war and confrontation, health problems, financial trouble, so many things can steal our happiness.  But what I have found is that when, in the midst of all those negative factors, you set yourself targets and you aim at them, and when you spend your energy to achieving those targets, you will live a life with tens of thousands moments of achievement.  In this manner the negative aspects become less depressing, more manageable.  Set targets, aim at them and see how your life will become purposeful and enriched.

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Is it really worth to "Never give up"?

13/8/2014

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Anyone who has known me for even a few months would have heard my motto "Never, ever, ever, give up".  I have realised that this is maybe the one thing that distinguishes me from many other people.

I want to tell you about this card that you see in the picture.  I have carried this little card in my wallet for years, to keep reminding myself that (1) you have to have a vision and a goal, and (2) you must be able to focus on achieving it even if no one else sees the same glory and triumph that you do.

I am not the smartest, definitely not the prettiest, not the most well-built and for most every skill I have been born with or have acquired, I can find a video of someone on YouTube in less than 5 minutes who can do it way better than me.  Take for instance playing guitar.  I can entertain my friends and family and impress a few people with my guitar skills, but compared to millions of other guitarists I am a nobody.  I am nothing.  I am mediocre.

But there is that one thing I have really made my own that I do better than a lot of people I have met.  To many people this might be an afterthought, something that motivates them for thirty seconds when they read it, or something that they just shrug off.  But I have turnt this into a life philosophy - NEVER, EVER, GIVE UP.  And I mean it, if you want something bad enough, the only way to get it, is to never give up until you have it.  From a different angle you can say: "If you fail at first, try again, and again, until you succeed".  And this is where I kick dust in many other people's faces.  The easy way out is to give up, to me this is not an option.  If I cannot beat you with skill or ability, I will take you on with perseverance.  But I have not developed this attitude and way of thinking to compete with others, I have done it in order to keep improving myself and to better myself for the benefit of those around me.  And many times I have succeeded, simply because I never give up.  Not for any other reason.

Three things that are key to such a philosophy, that are not always obvious, are the following:
  1. In order to "Never give up", you actually have to have a goal, or a vision, or a "prize to be won".  You need a target.  If you are not driven and focused, you have already given up.  That was the first lesson I learnt.  
  2. In order to set a vision, you need to want to be in a better position that you currently are.  And many times that means that you have to work hard and you might fail multiple times and you might get stuck in a position where you do not want to be.  Such is life, life does not owe you anything.  You have to lift yourself up, and sometimes you are forced back to the drawing board.  
  3. You need to look beyond the now and the immediate.  I developed the ability to construct in my mind the situation that I would like to be in, despite where I am now.  And it is always better than where I am.  That does not mean that I live an unfulfilled life.  On the contrary.  I am happy and positive and motivated every day of my life, but I am always on the move, there must be progress.  If you do not move, you are staying behind.

Until today this attitude has become a way of living to me.  My golf buddies sometimes remark that they have not seen anyone so motivated to play the sport, despite having to overcome a total lack of natural talent on my side.  But I have decided not to give up, and I have set goals for myself.  And sometimes I had to scale down on those goals, but I have never ever gone onto a golf course without wanting to be better than the last time.  And this I have integrated into my personality in everything I do.

It is unbelievable how many discoveries will await you if you change your attitude - when you keep on trying, keep on going, never giving up.  The great thing is that you will constantly experience small successes, small victories.  That will motivate and energise you even further and life will unlock its magic moments to you and lead you on a path of constant fulfilment.

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    Johan Vorster is an  Information Technology expert, mentor & project manager. Entrepreneur. Loves emerging technology. Positive Living. Motto is "Never give up". I love God. I love life. Golf is my sport

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