Wednesday
Jan072009
Beating the Giants: What Could You Achieve if You Didn't Know It?
Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 13:24 In our UnDissertation group call today, we were taking about goal-setting and staying focused on the present — the Now of each moment.
This is video that I think beautifully captures how focusing on the Now can result in achievements beyond our expectations, without necessarily having to pre-set an amazing goal.
Watch the video and then reflect for a bit on what it took to achieve that amazing goal —- and please do share your reflections! Where does goal-setting fit in? How do your goals contribute to reaching your best performance? Do they?
Reader Comments (4)
Wow! What a powerful video! Thanks for sharing this, Karen!! Did you just happen to come across this, or have you been saving it for a day like today? ;-)
I have two thoughts---one about the blindfold, and one about the coach. The blindfold kept the boy from seeing how far he had yet to go, thus his focus was limited to the NOW--the step that was immediately before him. I wondered if he would have kept pushing himself if the coach had not been continually yelling, "Keep going. Don't quit! Don't let me down. You can do it!"
Applying this to our dissertation challenges: Today we discussed the importance of keeping our focus on the here and now. For us that means knowing what task we need to work on right now, in the next 15 min, or 30 min, or two hours. All those minutes accumulate, and we have put in a lot of time and accomplished our goal! Of course, we need to have a target, but we can't allow too much of our energy to be expended on gazing at the target from afar. If we continue working, step by step, we will reach the target in time.
Another point I see has to do with feeling like we can't do the task before us and being willing to face the difficult challenges before us. We would not have gotten where we are if we didn't have the ability to complete the dissertation, but sometimes it seems too hard. I think we need to be cautious about the messages we are hearing and attending to (the neural paths we are reinforcing). If we attend to the nay-saying messages, which may come from ourselves or from others, we will get discouraged. So, we need to keep telling ourselves, "Keep going! Don't give up! You can do it! Don't let me down!" AND, we're fortunate to have each other to say to us, "Keep going! Don't give up! You can do it! Don't let yourself down!" (punctuated by the occasional high-kick and pom-pom waving *v*) ;-)
One more thought......I was wondering how much the music contributed to my emotional response to the scene being shown. I don't think it would have been as powerful without it! Where can I get the sound track? I need to play it as I work! ;-)
Nice comments Victoria. I particularly like the reminders about which ideas we are reinforcing. I am spending too much time not only reinforcing what others are saying but also in thinking that x tactic can't work for me for whatever reason. I must believe I'm really special--and not in a good way. :/
I believe this may be the musical link you are looking for ;-)
http://www.imeem.com/people/-2so8H/music/Fd3YN_a-/mark_willard_alex_kendrick_facing_the_giants_theme/
Karen - What an inspirational video! Thanks for sharing this with us!
As I watched this video the following came to me:
"Mind Over Matter"
If we BELIEVE we can do it, we will do it.
Forget about the past and focus on the present, the here and now.
We are, what we BELIEVE we are.
We can do, what we BELIEVE we can do.
THE CHOICE IS OURS.....WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE?