Shoot For the Stars

Too often, what we read and profess becomes a part of our libraries and our vocabularies instead of becoming part of our lives. ~E. E. Bauermeister

The higher you set your goals, the greater will be your achievements.
~W. Clement Stone

Many years ago I used to fish with a guy who read all sorts of bass fishing magazines. He had stacks of the things lying around the house. You would have thought that with everything he had read he would be a bass fishing guru. He seldom caught more than a fish or two. I caught one after another.

E. E. Bauermeister had it right. People often have a collection of books on relationships, money management, or making the most of life, and while they are in their libraries (or on a bookshelf somewhere), the advice in them is never put into practice.

The number of self-help titles on Amazon or in a public library is staggering. Many of the authors simply parrot each other. Some of those authors have accomplished nothing aside from producing a book or two. Others have had countless successes. And many of those authors need help themselves. They really need to follow their own advice.

One of the reasons I really love the work of W. Clement Stone, Earl Nightingale, and Napoleon Hill is that they were doers. They achieved a lot in life because they set their goals high and followed through with their plans.

I am frequently asked how I find the time to do all the things I do. Well, a lot of it is making the time available to do it. Don't simply talk about it. But, there is more to it than that.

When I started in the fly fishing business, I said I wanted to be the "best fly tyer living in the world today." People criticized me for making that my goal. Why? Perhaps we have been programmed to settle for mediocrity. If you AIM FOR THE STARS, you'll go a lot farther than if you want to be a "pretty good" musician, artist, writer, baseball player, ________________ insert your dream here. Are you with me?

I chose to become a damn good fly tyer. I wanted to be the best. I set my goal high because I knew that it would get me farther than if I settled for something less. I kept a healthy attitude about it, but, I actually made a very nice reputation for myself with this lofty goal.

Set your goals high. Work toward excellence. Don't settle for being an also-ran. I had a friend who played tennis. His mother bought him a tennis outfit by a company called "Runner UP" (What the...). The runner-up in tennis is the loser! That makes no sense.

Set your goals on winning, on being the very best you can be. Don't settle for something less. It requires work. CULTIVATION is the key.

This image is a fly pattern that I invented and one in the collection of the Catskill Fly Fishing Museum. Mickey's Pearl Muddler Minnow.

Be all you can be. Set your goals high and shoot for the stars.