Having a goal in mind is always a good idea since it lets you know where you need to go. The problem is that focusing solely on the goal’s outcome and ignoring everything else is going on around you while working toward it is not a good idea.
Many individuals do that, but the truth is that you have no influence over the result, so you can’t predict how everything will turn out in the end. And the time you lose on the ascent to the summit by not appreciating and/or enjoying your life is time you will never get back.
Whether you have already begun working toward your goal or it is still only an idea in your head, you must now decide which is more important: your happiness or your ego.
#1 Arriving rather than striving
A series of lesser destinations make everyone’s life. The purpose of life is not to fill us up with people or stuff. Such objectives are easy to achieve but inevitably lead to sorrow once they are lost.
People tend to miss out on the lessons and amazing experiences that are present in between when they only think about achieving the objective. Our subconscious mind is built in a way that will promote our success.
Instead, enjoy the road by knowing that once your will and intention are grounded, you have the ability to complete whatever work you set your mind to.
#2 Take the eyes off the prize
Without the necessary intermediate steps to get us there, goals are useless. Goals are created and achieved along the way. We learn new talents or make various lifestyle modifications that we never would have thought of before when we are working toward a goal.
Rushing the process and trying to complete our tasks as quickly as possible means skipping the learning opportunities that help us form our new habits. As we take our eyes off the prize and enjoy the journey, we develop the ability to preserve and enhance our personal self.
#3 The journey builds character
The way we pursue our objectives shapes our character. The hardships and lessons encountered along the way help to build character strength. Character cannot be created in ease and quiet, as American author Helen Keller reminds us, the soul can only be strengthened, aspiration inspired, and success reached through trial and suffering experience.
Since we are likely to gather countless resources along the route, the journey itself becomes the main focus, making the end result much more satisfying. What is more, successful people are adaptable. They know what they want and pursue it with intense determination. They are receptive to the process of life and do not have fixed outcomes on how their goals will be achieved.
More crucially, the journey turns into a never-ending process of improvement that guides us towards our ultimate success—the achievement of our objectives and the character strength required to achieve them.
#4 The journey gives us permission to nourish our soul
Once we slow down, we’ll be able to listen to our own self and life. We’ll be able to decide what we actually want, what actually matters to us, which may or may not be the goal that we’re aiming for. Once our ego gets out of the way, we are able to be taught and to learn because we:
- don’t think we know everything
- are willing to be open to new things
- give ourself permission to make mistakes
- allow ourself to be a beginner.
Learning who we really are deep down in our core and what it is we truly want, instead of what others may want for you that you project onto yourself, are the biggest gifts you could ever give ourself.
#5 The journey helps us find what makes us come alive
Learning about ourself and what makes us feel the most alive is our life’s work. Once we start enjoying the journey, we will have the time and the motivation to discover what:
- we are actually drawn to
- lights a spark in us
- makes us happy and fulfilled when we do it
- we want to be doing with our time.
Considering the above, we need to ask ourself: is the goal we are aiming for what we actually want to be exchanging our life for or would we rather be aiming for something else?
#6 The journey matters more than the outcome because it gives our life meaning
Slowing down and enjoying the journey is what is going to give our life meaning. Even if we are doing something we love and aiming for a goal that matters deeply to us, it still holds true that clambering for the summit to the exclusion of everything else will lead to burnout.
And if we are burned out for too long, thus not nourishing our soul, and not finding what makes us come alive and doing it, we can easily slide into a depression. Meaning is what will lead you to:
- joy
- satisfaction
- fulfillment
- and the list of good things goes on.
The caveat to finding meaning is that we have to let go of our ego and instead choose to feed our soul. Taking all of the above into consideration, the message is that life never goes according to plan. The significance we give to life is all-encompassing, and it is supported by our passion for our purpose.
