It's Always In The "Doing"

Photo by Anthony Cantin on Unsplash

I think we get so caught up in the goals that we’re after that we lose sight of the need to focus on the process. Especially when the goals are big, audacious. 

This makes sense, intuitively, of course. The bigger the goals, the higher the stakes, the more invested we are in their achievement. It’s natural then that we takes these goals seriously, and that they occupy our thought processes. 

The problem arises though when we let ourselves get worked up by them. When the difficulty and uncertainty and challenge of getting “there” consumes and overwhelms us. 

Because then we stall and stop making progress. We spend our time caught up in what-if’s, even when we have no information.

It’s better, in those times, to focus on the process and emphasize what we need to do, more than whether we’ll get there. 

Be in the moment. 

Be mindful, present. 

Focus on the process.

Chop wood, carry water. 

When we do that, we focus on the work that needs to get done, and not in mental gymnastics and probabilities.

(And, incidentally, when we actually get there? When we actually achieve our goals?

Keep going. Keep doing the same things. 

Because it’s that work ethic, that discipline, that mindset, that needs to be the focus.)