Enjoy the process, not the goal

I’ve always been a dedicated person. Working hard to achieve my goals.

Growing up, those goals mainly consisted of getting good grades. I thought I had good self-discipline. Studying hard when I needed to.

But after finishing school, I noticed that it was harder to get things done.

When I take up new business endeavors, I always start out with a great idea. Work really hard in the beginning. I achieve the short-term goals I’ve set. But when one or two months have passed, I start slacking. The initial phase, driven by pure motivation is gone. And I start lagging behind. Not performing according to my own standards.

Setting long-term goals for yourself is easy. Reaching them is hard. Because when we work for a future goal, it makes today a pain. And we are only living for a better tomorrow.

We can do it for a short time. Grind hard if we see the goal clearly. But if the goal is far away, how can we keep going every day?

The answer is to enjoy the process, not the goal.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean you should ‘do what you love’. Even if you do what you love, working for a goal will become unmotivating. Everything we ‘have to’ do, becomes a chore at some point – even the things we love.

Just like the saying; it is about the journey, not the destination. Building a successful business takes hard work. But you can’t focus solely on the goal to succeed. You need to enjoy the journey there.

Your goal is the reason. Your process is how you keep going.

To keep going in thick and thin your process should be made up of small habits.

Want to be a writer? Write a little every day. Want to become fit? Exercise a little every day. Want to be a Youtuber? Film a little every day.

Set up small habits that you do every day. But make sure they are actually small. It does not need to be 3 hours of writing or 1 hour cardio and 1 hour weight lifting. In fact, that’s what will make you fail. Set your time to 20 minutes. Or what is achievable for you.

Some days you will do more. But on the days that you don’t want to do anything at all. That’s when you need this process. You always have time for 20 minutes.

Doing a little every day. Just showing up. Will get you further than working for a distant dream.

Create a process that meets the least resistance. And follow it.

Learn to enjoy the process. And you will work every day for your goal.