Too many people have a golf mindset - their aim is to get from their starting point to an end product/outcome in as few moves as possible - each move being the product of deep intention and focus.
The problem is, that's really hard. Most people bad swings, and so it takes years of focused practice to hone their craft. They have to get really good at swinging, arm themselves with a variety of high-quality tools, to finally get the ball in the hole.
Along the way, you have to avoid large stretches of water and sand and swamps and hills of tall grass - any one of which could ensnare you and massively hamper progress.
Instead, I'd advocate for a pinball mindset. Don't go for a hole-in-one - strategically fill your life with lots of things you can bounce off.
In both golf and pinball, the game ends once the ball goes in hole. But in golf, you must become singularly obsessed with the hole. Everything else is seen as an obstacle.
In pinball, you don't need to worry about the hole - it's going to happen, eventually. You accept that as a natural consequence. The ball going into the hole is such an inevitability that it's the one thing you don't need to focus on.
And it becomes inevitable not because you've removed all the obstacles, but because you've multiplied them. And you don't see them as obstacles, you see them as waypoints - opportunities to encounter something interesting and be rewarded.
Instead of worrying about how the ball gets in the hole, focus on trying to collect as many points as possible along the way.
Instead of intentionally trying to drive towards a single outcome through sheer force of will, put your focus only on generating inertia and momentum, and throwing yourself into interesting things that you can quickly learn from. Once you have enough velocity, serendipity and gentle guidance will do the work for you.
You'll oscillate wildly, encountering numerous interesting people and ideas, taking something from each of them in turn.
The faster you go, the more likely you are to encounter those interesting things, and the more likely it becomes that any of those things will nudge you towards a great outcome. And by the time you reach the hole, you'll be a few dozen wild experiences richer.
