How far ahead do I look?

I love going fast. I drive fast down winding roads (never over the speed limit of course!) I ride my bike fast, my moto-x bike fast. It's a rush. I've learned that to better navigate the fast, twisty roads and trails you have to find the "sweet spot" in the road ahead where you focus your eyes. Race car drivers do this. When you look at the road or trail just in front of you, you have less time to react to changes in the path. You're line tends to twitch and the entry or exit in a tight turn can be over-shot. When you soften your eyes and focus slightly ahead of where you would normally look, you find that your line becomes smoother, and naturally follows the curves. Your close-range peripheral vision handles keeping you on the road or trail, even if it doesn't seem like it should work that way. Try it yourself...focus a bit further ahead on the road, relax your eyes. Notice how your movements become smoother, and you follow the curves much better without having to over-correct.

As I was driving my favorite winding road home from work tonight, I realized that this technique worked for driving, biking, running, motorcycling, etc. It also works for my life path. If I focus right in front of myself, I tend to find myself over-correcting and using a lot of energy to stay on task or on track. I lose sight of where I'm really going or what really needs to be done for longer term success. I get stuck on busy work and side-tracked easily. When I focus too far in the future, I let important things slip through the cracks. I'm not paying attention to what needs to be done in the here and now. It's like I'm dreaming, but not taking action to make those dreams come true. But when I'm looking just far enough ahead, with my peripheral vision allowing me to handle just the things that are really important right in front of me, I feel I'm the most productive, effective, and ultimately - happy.

It was an interesting a-ha for me and I thought I'd share.