Thought experiments are great.
They challenge and break our conventional patterns of thinking.
They mobilise the imagination to remould our point of view for a brief but brilliant moment.
They make us question our values, morals, and how we live our daily life.
Here’s one of them for you.
Damn.
Denzel’s definitely not alone in this sentiment.
Complaining is a zero return investment.
What do you do with the time that is given to you each day?
Tim Strickland also warns us of the danger of dwelling on the past and shares how he deals with frustration and negative thoughts.
As a professional archer who won two world and ten national titles, a bow manufacturer and Olympic coach, he should know what he’s talking about.
“Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow.” - Fred Bear
Tim is typing now:
You CAN be an amazing archer, but until you start NOT letting the arrow that you shoot affect the ones that are still in your quiver, you never will.
Do you know the way to get the arrow back once it's left your bow?
Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
So, if you make one mistake, don’t make the same mistake for every arrow that’s left in your quiver.
There are other arrows in the quiver that are capable of doing what you want them to do.
You won’t figure out how to win until you learn how to lose.
That’s the key.
Otherwise, you derail yourself way more than others can derail you.
Don’t let the regret or rage of losing overpower your ability to perform at your best.
Tim’s words hit a tender spot for me.
In part, because I make my living trying to help clients communicate their ideas to the world and, quite naturally, I am more apt than others to take criticism personally.
In part, because I think there’s a tremendous amount of truth to Tim's words.
The biggest lesson of archery is also the simplest: by pulling back the bow, you learn how to let go.
It's easy to get frustrated.
And your frustration is probably justified.
But the question is, what are you going to do with that frustration?
A negative mind will never give you a positive life.
When you’re down, just remember 400 000 000 000 000:1.
That's 400 trillion to one.
That’s how rare it is to be a human being.
When you understand that math, how can’t you be happy?
You've already won.
You’ve won the universe's lottery and managed to get lucky enough to live the life that you have right now.
Yes, I know, there’s some bad stuff out there.
But I’ve got news for you.
There's always going to be bad stuff out there.
Accept that.
I’ve listened to an interview where a sports psychologist, who was working with elite-level pitchers, said that part of their success in baseball was that they always needed to expect that there was going to be an umpire who was going to make two or three bad calls in every game.
So when they got a call they didn’t think was right, they could just mentally check it off the list, sort of, “Well, ok, that was one of them. Shit happens."
Start doing that.
And this is where Tim returns to our story:
My coaching is focused on what you execute within your box.
You need to get to the point where you recognize if you make a good shot, it’s a ten.
That’s the highest score on the paper.
If you focus just on execution, no one is gonna beat you.
If you make a good shot, you don’t need to see where it lands, because if your eyesight tape is right and you trust the equipment you’ve got, you know it’s right in the middle.
You know that.
If you prep, you're ready and it’s in your hand.
Tim’s hitting all the right angles here like a prize-fighter.
Focus on what you can control, leave what you can’t.
Detach.
Practice. (I’ve riffed about the power of deliberate practice here) Execute.
Eliminate regret.
No more dwelling.
No more complaining.
Don't waste a second on it because those tiny little seconds will start to add up until you are out of time.
Choose optimism.
Don’t fear things that don’t exist.
Go step out and do your thing.
Squeeze the shit out of your life.
You’ve got one life.
Act like it.
The clock is running.
Tick-tock.
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