American Olympian Matthew Emmons famously lost out on a gold medal in 2004 when, despite having an almost insurmountable lead going into his final shot, finished in 8th place even though he hit the bullseye.
The reason is he hit the bullseye of the wrong target.
This story has been used as a metaphor on many occasions since for putting all your focus on the wrong things.
I'd like to suggest that we all do this more often than we realize, especially when it comes to our fitness, nutrition, and athletic performance.
Those who often want to lose weight can become obsessed with a number on a scale, while paying little attention to the daily nutrition habits that caused the weight gain in the first place.
Many kids dream of becoming elite athletes but aren't willing to put in the kind of consistent hard work and dedication necessary to get there.
We want to perform better in our sport, have more energy, look fit, and achieve all these things in the future. Yet we let little things get in the way of achieving them all the time.
We are aiming at outcomes, at tomorrow.
These are the wrong targets.
The right target is today. The little things you do, the obstacles you overcome to take one step closer to the bigger goal, this is where your focus should lie.
Do you want to lose weight?
Get your eyes off the scale and make 1 small change to your nutrition that we both know will make you healthier.
Find an additional time of day to eat vegetables.
Upgrade your fat source types.
Put the high calorie drink down and have a glass of water.
Do you want to be the best player on your team or in your league? Do you dream of playing college or the pros someday?
Get out on your own and work on a specific sport skill that gives you problems.
Get high quality workouts in even when you're busy, tired, or both.
Smarten up when it comes to what you eat and drink, because they drive your energy levels and future growth.
No one achieved huge goals without a tremendous effort each and every day, for a very long period of time.
They got busy, had setbacks, and went through many periods of doubt. Yet they pushed through anyways.
Aim at the right target. Focus on what you can do to move forward today.
