Stephen M. Hannemann

Oh Shoot!

Author: Stephen

A little over a year ago, I took up shooting again. I have always found it a calming form of relaxation. That may sound strange with all of the current hysteria revolving around gun ownership and our second amendment rights. But for me, shooting is a contemplative sport.

This morning on my walk, I pondered the similarities between shooting and our daily lives. And it doesn’t matter which of the sport’s disciplines be it shotgun, hand gun or rifle. It’s all the same. You either hit the target or you don’t. Once the bullet has left the barrel there is nothing you can do to change the outcome. Now I admit nothing is more satisfying than seeing a tight group of bullet holes on your target at 100 or 200 yards, or seeing your clay pigeon explode in a cloud of dust. But the fact remains, even the best marksmen sometimes miss.

A fired bullet or round of shot is yesterday. You either celebrate or learn and move on. Great marksmen understand the concept of a missed shot and do not let it affect their future performance. They stop, take a breath, and analyze what happened. Did they rush the shot? Was there a sudden gust of wind that took the bullet off course or blow the clay bird out from under their shot pattern? They evaluate, then correct their error, or adjust for the new conditions and squeeze off another round.

I realize comparing life to shooting in an over simplification but the principles apply. Our lives are an ever changing set of circumstances. Yesterday is our spent cartridge to either affirm us or to learn from. Today is where our focus should be. What did I learn from yesterday that will help me today and how to better prepare for tomorrow? Good businessmen, great athletes, and marksmen understand this very basic concept. They do not let adversity affect their future performance. They learn. They grow. They improve. They succeed. And you can too!

Live well.

Stephen

© Stephen M. Hannemann – All rights reserved.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 8:59 pm and is filed under Motivation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.