I recently read a book by Dr. Jerry Alan Johnson entitled "A Master's Journey: Secret Memoirs of a Warrior, Healer, and Mystic." Johnson describes his path as first a martial artist, and then healer, scholar, and finally Daoist priest. There are many vivid stories in the book that make it an incredible read.

One funny episode early in Johnson's Shaolin Kungfu training is something we can learn from and perhaps challenge our way of approaching goal setting. Johnson was young and enthusiastic, and he wanted to learn as much kung fu as possible, as quickly as possible. He asked his shifu (teacher) how long it would take him to become proficient enough to be a shifu in his own right. His shifu answered that it would take perhaps three to five years. Johnson was dismayed because he had had quite a bit of martial arts training before turning to kung fu and thought the pace should be faster. "Well, what if I trained and worked really, really hard?" he asked, to which his shifu answered, "Oh, in that case, it would take you seven to nine years."

Johnson's Shifu explained that the learning requires the natural unfolding of innate skills that take time to embody. He used the analogy of trying to grasp a falling feather -- each time you reach for it, your grasping actually pushes the feather further away. Instead, by relaxing, observing, and receiving the energetic movement of the feather, it will naturally become guided toward the center of your outreached hand.