One of the best lessons I learned in life, I learned from foosball. During a competitive match, I kept going for the long pull. The long pull is a beautiful shot. It’s like poetry in motion. The problem was, I kept missing all my shots. Finally, my partner pulled me aside and said, “Hey, don’t always go for the long shot. You’ll miss all the beautiful short and middle along the way.”
Take the short and Middle Along the Way
It was a great point. After all, it was a competitive match and we needed results. For the rest of the night, I focused on short and middle. This instantly changed my game. I now had more options and my opponents had more holes to worry about. It felt like cheating as I made shot after shot.
It Works for Life
Outside of foosball, I realized this was really an effective metaphor. I started to apply it to all areas of my life. I found ways to flow value. For example, rather than try to write the ultimate blog post, I freed myself up to write shorter, simpler posts. On my large projects at work, I found ways to chunk them up and ship smaller value along the way. I found that success builds momentum and that it’s actually what sets you up for the long shot. When I feel I have a long shot in me, I go for it. When things don’t work out, I go back to the “short” and “middle.” This really helped me improve my overall portfolio of results.
How about you, is there some short and middle you can start taking?
Photo by foxxyz.
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