Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
The general principles of success apply to metal detecting as well as other human activities. You might not always see the application, but the application of those same principles are usually there, even when I talk about topics other than metal detecting.
I've written several times in this blog about the importance of setting goals. Here are the links to two such posts.
https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2017/12/12417-report-focus-goals-feedback-loops.html
https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2018/12/121518-report-how-to-become-more.html
If you want to accomplish something, you will have a much better chance if you set a specific goal. You are not likely to make it to the NFL, if you don't have your mind set upon that goal. That is just one example.
When it comes to metal detecting, what is it that you really want to accomplish? Do you want to find a piece of eight or a gold escudo? I know those goals are shared by many people who read this blog and write to me, and they have a much better chance of accomplishing that goal if it is something they set their heart on. Your goals will focus your efforts and drive you on.
When I talk about other subjects that might appear to be off-topic, most often there is a lesson or a way that it applies to metal detecting. The principles of success are the same.
Recently, for example, the press has been going crazy about the President saying he wanted to open up the country by Easter. Many of the journalist find fault with that goal, but it is a good ambitious goal that will focus the efforts of the administration and country. The president would not be a successful business man or the President of the United States if he did not set ambitious goals. I.m sure it is just a part of his nature and he set ambitious goals in his business life, being very much aware that it might not happen but also knowing that it would at least inspire a vigorous effort and result in progress.
If you don't set ambitious goals, you will likely not accomplish much. Challenge yourself. Strive. But if you are not sure about it or if you have conflicting goals, you'll just be fighting yourself. Your must commit to your goals, and they must be true to who you are.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:21)
(Can you believe one source attributed it to J. K. Rowling?)
Many would like to find a treasure wreck like the Atocha, but they are not willing to focus their life on it. I'm not. If it would happen to me, it would be a lot of fun, but if it is something you really wanted to accomplish, you wouldn't wait for it to happen to you - you would aggressively pursue it. You'd have a much better chance of making it happen if you made it your life's goal.
Goals should be challenging and ambitious. They should be specific. They should be true to who you are. I wrote about that before. Check the links above.
As I've said before, if all you want out of metal detecting is a hobby that provides some enjoyment and maybe some exercise that is fine, but if you really want to find a 1715 Fleet coin, or a ancient coin, or a big diamond ring, or a bunch of gold nuggets, one of the first and most important steps is to set a goal that you can commit to, that will drive you, and that will sart you on the path to success.
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Metal detecting is very much like life in general. The same general principles of success apply.
Dr. Spencer Johnson's book, Who Moved My Cheese, was top-selling business motivation book published in 1998. In the form of a parable, it describes how in work and life individuals must anticipate and react to change.
Life will change, and you must be able to adjust and react. Some will keep on doing the same thing. They might expect the same beaches to keep producing year in and year out. Or they might expect their old tried and true strategies and techniques to keep working forever, but the world will change, and you will have to change with it to be successful.
Doing the same thing over and over again is easy, but there are times when you need to make a change. Someday you'll find that doing the same old thing doesn't work anymore. Or worse yet, something might happen so you can't do the same old thing anymore. But that isn't always bad. Sometimes it forces you to employ new and better methods and techniques.
The coronavirus forced people to do things differently, whether they wanted to or not. We were already going in the direction of social distancing with the internet, smart phones and even to some extent telemedicine.
I began telecommuting in 1979. It really isn't a brand new thing. I worked from home using a a large international computer network that provided many of the communications capabilities that are taken for granted today. That was when I moved to the Miami area and developed training and education software for companies such as Eastern Airlines and helped non-profit agencies in places like Liberty City use computer-based education.
Back around that time, one University of Miami professor leased a terminal with access to educational software for his children to use at home. It was very costly at that time - something like over $400 a month in 1980 dollars, which would be the equivalent of about three times that much in today's money. It was being done, but the time wasn't right yet. It was still too expensive for most people and most organizations.
Telecommuting and distance learning have been around for decades but because of technological advances and changes in society, it has become more feasible and commonplace. We have progressed, but there is more we can do.
During this time of social stress, we really need to adapt and innovate. We can innovate in ways that haven't been imagined yet and that will allow us to function safely without destroying our enjoyment and productivity. We won't have to lock ourselves in our homes forever if we can adapt and innovate.
We don't have to use the same methods today that were used with the Spanish flu in 1918. We should adapt and innovate.
Sometimes a crisis stimulates innovation. Corporations like Wal-Mart are putting plexiglass between cashiers and customers, very much like the banks have been doing for a long time. Its new but not new, and it isn't a huge change..
There are many things we can do to adapt and change without drastically changing our way of life. It might take some thinking, but we can do that. This crisis can be solved, and it can lead to innovations that will help us move into the future.
This is a good time for each person to think, adapt and innovate, not only because of the virus, but also because in whatever we do, there are times when it is necessary to change.
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The Treasure Coast surf will be up a little on Friday and Saturday, although my understanding is that all Treasure Coast beaches are still closed. Let me know if that is not the case.
I heard that if you want to go to over the bridge to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, only cars with North Carolina plates are allowed over.
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| Source: MagicSeaWeed.com. |
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net