A Lesson From A Game Of Darts

I learnt something interesting from playing a game of darts yesterday. It's amazing how simple things like that teach us life lessons if we really get the message.

I wasn't used to playing darts always, so when I decided to play it again with some friends yesterday after a long period of time, I seriously got worse at aiming.

I wondered what the problem was and why I often missed. I'm naturally a very persistent person, so I decided that I will continue playing until I achieved my target which was to not miss any of the 8 darts I threw at the target board.

I tried many times and it was difficult to achieve that. I had to start over anytime I missed. In The Course of these attempts, I discovered something.

My mind was focused on perfectly gripping the dart and positioning myself well. I was often too conscious of holding the dart that I overlooked where my target was.

I was trying to throw the dart with the perfect grip and the perfect stance. But all the needless worry about perfection clouded my mind.

Then I decided to forget about being perfect in playing. I didn't want to throw with any perfect style. I proceeded to throw my dart effortlessly with only the target in focus.

Guess what? I threw 1, 2, 3, 4 …..8 darts without missing none of them. I smiled for certain and I saw the futility in trying to be too perfect.

All I needed to do was forget about the steps and just throw my dart while focusing on the board. That's all I had to do.

But you see, I often missed because I was concentrating on something that didn't even matter.

Those who discovered the best grips and postures to play darts discovered it out of their frequent and natural play.

They didn't try to fit in. They just played naturally and discovered the new styles you're trying to copy.

Being yourself is often best. This is not to say that one should not emulate best practices from experts. We must understand that the emulations should not be our only way. We must be free to try different things naturally by ourselves.

That gives us the chance to discover our own peculiar style which may not have been discovered yet.

So, forget about always being as perfect as another. Just do what you can do naturally while maintaining focus on your objectives.

The results will amaze you.

Keep Winning!