mental target practice

Status
Not open for further replies.

KLPNO

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Russian Federation
Hello everyone,

From the book Psychology of Hope by Charles Snyder.

"We were not just going anywhere, however. We gave careful thought to where we wanted to go. These thoughts, of course, were about goals. Humanity’s earliest goals were basic and centered, perhaps, on shelter or food. Whatever the goal, we began to think of ourselves as moving toward the achievement of those goals, and our species succeeded in the grand survival game.

Just as our ancestors did, today we think about getting from where we are now, let’s call it Point A, to where we want to go, say Point B. In this context, Point B stands for any of the many goals we may envision ourselves wanting to pursue. In aiming at goals, we are constantly engaging in mental target practice. At the risk of appearing overly simplistic, I believe that life is made up of thousands and thousands of instances in which we think about and navigate from Point A to Point B."

According to Merriam-Webster, target practice means:


practice in shooting at targets

But I'm a bit unsure as to what "mental target practice" means.

Does it mean that we constantly imagine/envision the successful achievement of the goal?
 
Yes. The target is the destination you want to reach. The writer calls it 'mental' to make it clear we're not talking about physical space but rather using metaphor, where the destination is an idea in the mind.

Let's say I have a goal of losing 10 kg of body fat. The idea of myself 10 kg lighter is the destination—the place I want to get to. It's not a literal place, just a metaphor.

The 'practice' part just means that this setting of goals is omething that we do routinely and regularly, and possibly also contains the idea that this is something that we become increasingly more skilled at.
 
Note the word play with the verbs 'aim' and the metaphor of target practice, along with the related expression to 'shoot for' something.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top