You Grow More From the Hike Than From Reaching the Mountain Top
The process towards our goals teaches and grows us more than the end result.
The challenges, experiences, and lessons learned along the way to our goals are more than just obstacles along the way to our final destination; they are the point of our efforts.
They are what give the process meaning and are more valuable than simply attaining an outcome.
Therefore, we should never wish them away or avoid them.
“The Obstacle Is the Way” — Ryan Holiday
I struggle with staying with the process.
I tend to fixate on the outcome and view the journey as an obstacle to the destination.
For example, I spent most of my time in college mainly thinking about graduation. I saw my classes as something to get through, rather than enjoying the learning process. Because of this mindset, I wasted my education. I missed out on the benefits of being an engaged and focused student.
I’ve noticed this pattern with all my goals — I obsess over the result and resist the process.
I tend to be outcomes-focused, which makes me prone to seeking shortcuts.
I’m trying to change this and here is what I’m learning along the way:
“We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.”
— Marcel Proust
1. Make the Process the Goal
Focus on being better at the journey. When you enjoy the journey, you will love the result.
You learn more about yourself on your way to achieving your goals, than when you reach them.
You discover who you truly are and what you’re truly made of when you can set a goal and work diligently and constantly towards it. Diligence and consistency are rare skills and you won’t regret cultivating them.
“Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.”
― Ovid
2. Cultivate Persistence
Show up, sit down and take the first step. Show up again. And again. And again.
This is persistence.
You become better at the journey by walking it and by walking it frequently.
For most of us, the shift from outcomes-based thinking to enjoying the process requires practice. Society has trained us to focus on the end results and to get there as quickly as possible. We are not used to delaying gratification and to resisting an impulse for immediate results.
We need to practice showing up taking small actions and seeing value in the actions themselves and for their own sake.
3. Cultivate Diligence
steady, earnest, and persistent effort
Take one step toward your goals. Focus on that one step. take the step with mindfulness and with intention. Take the next step and focus on that step. And another step.
This is diligence.
My meditation teacher tells me that when my thoughts drift away from focusing on my breath during meditation, I should gently guide my attention back to my breath, without criticising myself with compassion for myself. I should merely and calmly redirect my focus to observing your breath.
It is committing to a task and consistently returning to it, even if your mind wanders.
We live in a world of constant distractions. Cultivating the ability to bring your focus back to the task at hand each time you get distracted is a superpower. This is one of the many benefits of Mindfulness and meditation.
The paradox of achieving our goals
Another reason why it’s more meaningful to focus on the process over the outcome is that very often when we achieve our goals, the satisfaction is short-lived.
Goals are notoriously anticlimactic.
The journey is where we discover ourselves more. It is in the process that we grow and learn most.
