Journeying to Achieve

This article is one of those from the archives but still rings true this #throwbackthursday

In the journey of life, one must have the mindset of two very respectable sports personalities – a chess player and a marathoner.

A chess player, sits at the table mapping out his course towards his target which is the opponents queen. Sort of like conquering the enemy’s kingdom. He calculates his move and calculates his opponents’ two or three moves in advance. At the back of his mind is the target and it is always infront of his eyes, but his mind is focused on the moves that are being made and targeted at his own queen.

Always at the top of his mind is

• protecting what he already has
• using his strengths and weaknesses to his advantage
• how to take advantage of the weakness and exposure of his opponent

He is always ready to trade one of his weaknesses or strengths if it will take him to the queen and declare CHECKMATE!

A marathoner does not spend his energy doing a 100m dash when he has 42 kms to go. He starts slowly knowing and believing that there is a gold medal waiting for him as well as the pride of flying his country’s flag.

He concentrates on every step he takes so that he can avoid rocks that will trip him but then he does not focus so much on his area of stepping or even on the dust he is acquiring as he runs. He lifts his eyes to see the obstacles, calculate how to avoid them and how much speed he needs to run at if he is going to finish first. He does not look at the far distance long enough to be discouraged by it; neither does he look at his present place in the race to forget what he has to achieve.

He knows that it is covering the distance step by step that will get him to the finish line and not one giant leap from the starting line to the finish line that will do the job and get him the medal!