English Moon Shot vs Mars Shot
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A Moon shot according to Merriam-Webster is ‘an extremely ambitious project or mission undertaken to achieve a monumental goal’ and thinking in terms of English study, it would be to achieve English fluency.
Whereas, a Mars shot would be to go even further, to truly challenge yourself by mastering English in a business sense. It is the mastery of the details and intricacies of the language for a specific business purpose, be it to use English to sway your audience towards supporting your plan or argument, or buying your product, or negotiating the best possible deal.
Now, that is not to say that going to the Moon (or becoming fluent in English, in this instance) is not incredibly challenging, as many have aimed to get to the Moon and have failed, run out of money or have run out of the will to finish, so it is definitely not something to be sneezed / laughed at or to be dismissed as insignificant. However, for those who want to take it further, aiming for Mars means to strive for perfection and a level of expertise that few will ever attain, having settled for the Moon.
The bottom line (according to Oxford Languages has two meanings: ‘the final total of an account or balance sheet’ often referring to whether something made a profit or lost money, or that it is ‘the fundamental and most important factor’ or point) is that it takes additional effort, focus and dedication to strive beyond that which others will aim for, as you become optimal, targeted and laser focused on success.
Most give up once they reach the Moon because they have run out of steam (are tired and exhausted) or because they are willing to settle for ‘good enough versus excellence’. Those who aim for Mars, do not tend to rest on their laurels, are constantly seeking more and will go further, as they pursue optimization (Oxford Languages describes optimization as: ‘the action of making the best or most effective use of a situation or resource.’, whilst Merriam-Webster calls it ‘an act, process or methodology of making something as fully perfect, functional or effective as possible‘. It is that striving for excellence, that drive to constantly learn and perfect, which pushes them beyond the moon, where everyone else tends to halt.
What kind of person are you: One who is happy reaching the Moon, or one who will go further?
If you need to succeed rather than simply just getting by, then Business English should be your focus.
But before you can do that, you need to have first reached the moon. To test that level of fluency … CHALLENGE YOURSELF WITH THIS ACTIVITY:
Look at this sentence and find 10 different ways of saying it:
‘Pay close attention to areas that are MOST IMPORTANT.’
This is a lovely exercise to get your brain to start thinking about different ways of using the language and to expand your understanding and vocabulary.
Once you have 10 alternatives to the above sentence written down … Scroll down to find some options…
Hint:
Take each main bold word (underlined, in italics or in capital letters) and find suitable synonyms or alternatives for them, before weaving them into a sentence, with a similar meaning to the one I presented above.
Sentence: ‘Pay close attention to areas that are MOST IMPORTANT‘ – Alternatives:
1 Give particular focus to the most SIGNIFICANT areas.
2 Closely attend VITAL areas.
3 Focus directly on KEY areas.
4 Notice proximity to areas of PARAMOUNT importance.
5 Immediately concentrate on PREEMINENT areas.
6 Nearly regard areas of EXCEPTIONAL import.
7 Take heed of adjoining areas of PRIME relevance.
8 Recognise neighbouring PRINCIPAL areas of import.
9 Conveniently consider the FOREMOST areas.
10 Centre yourself within reach of MAJOR areas of importance.
Now taking all the possible ways of expressing that one sentence … Which would you be most likely to use in a meeting?
I would suggest number 3, as it is brief and to the point, without using complex wording, thus saving time in communicating clearly what is required.
If you had fun with this activity, please let me know in the comments below and I may create a video with more of them next.
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