To For Through

"If you aim at becoming a great ruler, you will be able to become the lord of a province. If you aim at becoming the lord of a province, you'll become nothing." - Mori Shojumaru (later Mori Motonari), Mori Motonari

Aim is an important thing. Misplaced aim in driving will result in swerving to stay on the road. Misplaced aim in archery or hockey will result in missing the target. Misplaced aim in living will result in a wasted life.

However we teach people the wrong thing about aim.

For so much of our instruction, we teach people that they should aim at something: "Look at the road. Aim for the passing grade. Aim for the target." The error with this is that we are teaching people to aim to something, not through something.

In reality, we don't want people to just see the road in front of them, we want them to see the road ahead of them. We don't want our children just to get the passing grade, but to get the knowledge the grade entails - and the eventual place that the knowledge will lead them.

In hunting or hockey, it's not where the target is, it's where the target will be when you hit it that is important.

To aim at becoming something external without grasping that it is the internal that makes the external possible is to set one's self up for eventual failure in the midst of supposed success.

When you're setting your goals today - and every day - what are you aiming for? Are you aiming high enough? Or are you mistaking aiming to for through?