Day 246: The Target Attracts the Arrow
Matthew McConaughey went on the Mindvalley Podcast and shared a secret to his success philosophy.
Twenty years before he won an Oscar, he was a college student who made a list of 10 things he wanted in life.
Win an Academy Award for Best Actorwas on that list.
Definitely a bold goal.
And his entire list came true.
Without any fancy system to make it happen. No manifesting course or vision board workshop.
A simple list made by a college student, putting on paper what was in his heart.
What he said about it was, "The target attracts the arrow."
That sentence stayed with me because a target gives your energy somewhere to go.
It gives your choices something to organize around and gives your intuition something to work with.
Being clear on what you want pulls you to it. Again, it all comes back to the vibration you put out. Because your energy comes back to you with what is a match.
If he had made that list and shown it to his friends who laughed at it and he then felt like it was silly and laughed with them, that would leave him at a zero match to those goals.
He didn't go into what the twenty years in between looked like, but I'm sure it wasn't a straight line.
Just because you are clear doesn't mean it all shows up immediately.
When I was 24 and was reading books like Think and Grow Rich and other success psychology books, I saw shifts in my success quickly because I soaked up and put into practice everything I was reading.
I was already in business and I told no one. So there were no naysayers.
I don't know what would have happened if I had been in a college situation, but I have big respect for how Matthew stuck with what was calling him forward.
He didn't make his list based on what his friends wanted or what his parents thought he should want.
He looked into himself and wrote what was his truth. Very mature and insightful for his age.
That matters because sometimes what we say we want is really what we think will make us look successful, safe, impressive, acceptable, or right in someone else's eyes.
The things that truly belong to us have a different feeling.
They may be bold, possibly don't make sense yet, and may take years to arrive fully.
But they don't feel borrowed.
I had a dream when I was young and it didn't happen right away. I needed to grow into it.
When I was in high school I told my guidance counselor I wanted to be a Realtor and he laughed me out of the office saying, "Who would buy a house from a young girl who looks like she's even younger?"
He said it like it was a well-known fact and I was crazy for thinking I had any right to do it.
I had zero self-esteem so I took it as, he would know better than I would. Plus he was an authority figure.
So I didn't go to real estate school at 18, but I never dropped that dream.
And at 22 when I bought my first house, the broker of the agency I used offered me a paid apprenticeship while I went to real estate school because he was afraid another agency would snap me up.
And apprenticeships like that had never been heard of before where I was from, so it became a big topic with all the Realtors in town.
Maybe I would have had success at 18 instead of 24, but possibly there was some wisdom in his putting me off.
I'm just glad I didn't let the dream die.
By the time I was 24 I had plenty of belief in myself and happily said yes to being paid when I hadn't even started the school. And I didn't care if all the Realtors were talking about me.
I knew in my bones I was going to be great at it before I even talked to my first client. It was just a deep knowing.
And it led to an award-winning career as a salesperson, sales manager and trainer for three decades.
Is there something in your life that you would say you feel in your bones, you just know it about yourself?
There probably is. And you may have discounted it because you couldn't put your finger on a credible place this feeling of success is coming from.
You may have let someone else's doubt become louder than your own inner certainty.
You may have put it away for a while because the timing wasn't right, or because you didn't yet have the confidence to hold it.
But if it is truly yours, it probably hasn't disappeared, and is quietly waiting for you to name it again.
Maybe today is the day to put the target back on paper.
Just to acknowledge the truth about what is still calling you.
Because the target attracts the arrow.
And once you're clear about what is yours, your energy has somewhere to go.
Today's Gentle Practice
Think about one dream, desire, or knowing that has stayed with you for a long time.
Ask yourself:
What do I know in my bones, even if I can't fully explain why I know it?
Don't talk yourself out of it.
Don't ask if it makes sense yet.
Just let yourself tell the truth.
Some dreams don't disappear because they are still part of the path calling you forward.
With you,
Lynn
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