​Becoming The Target​

Published on April 16, 2025

"The arrow doesn't seek the target,

the target draws the arrow.

We must be aware of what we attract in life because it is no accident or coincidence.

The spider waits in his web for dinner to come.

Yes, we must chase what we want, seek it out, cast our lines in the water,

but sometimes we don't need to make things happen.

Our souls are infinitely magnetic."

-Matthew McConaughey

I shared in a recent Daily Note how much I enjoyed Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey and how it inspired and motivated me more than it has most people; I think most people enjoyed the stories, but I’m not sure everyone connected to McConaughey’s stories and saw themselves in some of them.

I did.

Many times.

I love the quote, especially the part about the target drawing the arrow, from the section of the book when McConaughey meets his wife. He stops searching for the right woman, becomes the target, and draws the arrow, Camila, to him. This was not one of the stories that inspired and motivated me—I already have my Camila in Ang, so there’s no need to pull from his experience of finding his partner for life.

Meeting Camila wasn’t the only time that McConaughey became the target to draw the arrow to him.

After starring in several successful romantic comedies, he decided he was done playing the same character in the same movies. The work was easy for him, and the money was great. But the roles didn’t excite him, he didn’t feel fulfilled, and he wanted to be challenged if he was going to commit to a movie. So he turned down movie after movie—all romantic comedies—until Hollywood quit calling him.

“If I couldn’t do what I wanted, I wasn’t going to do what I didn’t, no matter the price.”

You can read the book to learn how he felt about the uncertainty of whether he’d ever do another movie again—you obviously know how the story turned out.

The Paperboy.

Magic Mike.

Mud.

Dallas Buyers Club.

The Wolf of Wall Street.

Becoming the target and staying committed to his vision (and his authentic Self and life) brought him the roles he desired…“the target draws the arrow.”

As I reflected on Greenlights and this quote, I couldn’t help but question whether I’m the arrow or the target. I think that with my future guiding people to live their authentic lives, I’ve been the arrow.

Being the arrow works for a while, but eventually, I think we have to stop being the arrow and become the target.

It’s time for me to become the target and draw the right people to me and to AlignedLife+.

Thankfully, this doesn’t require me to change too much—it’s really a mindset shift and a reallocation of my time.

It’s also an opportunity to get uncomfortable.

Ever since I became an entrepreneur in 2015, I’ve leveraged social media and referrals to grow my business; it’s the only way I know how to do so.

But, I’ve realized that leveraging social media is being an arrow, not being the target.

So, as I shift my focus to being the target, I’m going to experiment with leaving all social media for 30 days and re-evaluate in mid-May.

No Instagram (I’ll actually miss this since it’s more for personal use).

No LinkedIn.

No Twitter.

The apps are off my phone and iPad.

I’ll still be creating, though—I’m a Creator. I can’t stop, won’t stop.

I’ve restarted my Buffer account so I can continue to share my Daily Notes without having to log into the platforms.

The Keep Pursuing Series will continue.

LifeDesign+ will be picking up with more episodes.

The Omens will still be posted as I see and receive them.

Videos and Shorts will be uploaded to YouTube.

I just won’t be out engaging on my usual platforms for the next month.

I plan on using the extra time, energy, and mind space to create more, work on a book I’ve started writing, build out a cohort version of AlignedLife+, and pour more into the existing relationships at RLS Wealth.

I’ll weave a web to sit in like a spider and wait for the right people to find me. I have a funny feeling that becoming the target will create a magical shift in energy and allow the law of attraction to take on a whole new level.

I’m excited to see how this experiment turns out. In the past, I’ve been too afraid to abandon what I’ve used to grow my business, especially as I have a burning desire to get AlignedLife+ off the ground, but for some reason, it feels right and that it will have a similar outcome as McConaughey’s experience.

As I mentioned, I’ll still be creating and sharing my Daily Notes, the podcast, and more—it might just be harder to find since I won’t be sharing via social media, with the exception of the Daily Note on LinkedIn as a newsletter.

If you want to stay up to date you can subscribe to The Weekly Note, which will have everything I create each week, along with a little curation.

I debated even saying anything, but my social networks are where I communicate with a lot of people. I don’t want anyone to think I’m ignoring them, so I figured a post on The Omens and a “see you later” post wouldn’t hurt—I’m probably assuming people will care more than they really will.

Alright, time to become the target…

Keep pursuing

JC

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