It seems quite easy to work toward a target. Once something becomes a target it has become somehow visible. And once something has become visible it also has become possible to walk toward it. It happens by doing one step after the other or by designing the steps that ease reaching the target.

We might assume that the correlation between an action and its target will be so clear, that the execution will be faultless.

However, this is forgetting the mind and the human desire for status or maybe even more importantly, the fear of losing status. Such anxiety can transform the action undertaken and make it the target of our intention. It happens, for example, when we find ourselves reminded that whatever we do, we don’t want to look stupid.

It’s those situations in which priorities easily shift.

The desire to hit a target, which can be considered a more long-term target is suddenly confronted with the short-term target of looking good or avoiding looking stupid.

It can have a quite dramatic effect on one’s performance as suddenly it is more important that those watching us appreciate what we do. In doing our initial target has moved out of sight. It is a shift from sticking to one’s internal motivation to seeking external motivation. External validation has become more important than internal appreciation and pursuing one’s set targets.