The need to win

I heard an interview with the Swedish artist, Familjen (The Family). His breakthrough came quite late in life. When asked if he ever doubted making it, he answered that there had never been any such doubts. Then he added: "I also never felt that I needed to become successful." What a great mindset. Being confident that you will succeed, without carrying the craving that it really needs to happen. It's so easy to get caught up and blinded by the need to win, and the idea of what it will be like. Looking beyond the target instead of focusing on it. One foot in the future, while jumping unsteadily on one leg trying to get there. Sometimes the goal needs to be reached at some point, of course. Like starting our own business. But a neediness approach won't do much good in our attempts to get there. "The need to win" is not just the title of this post. It's a great parable by the Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu, written over 2000 years ago. It captures all this beautifully. When an archer…