Enjoy the Process

People usually want to know the end result, the finished product, or the climax to something they are moving toward. And that is certainly important. But as important is the process we go through to get to where we need to be. Seldom do people relish in the process because it can be hard, messy, prolonged, and tedious. But the process of learning, growing, building, transforming, and improving is what creates the end result, and it is that same process we need to embrace and enjoy.

In his best-selling book, Outliers, The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell made a big point about The 10,000 Hour Rule. His assertion is that in order to achieve a level of excellence, expertise, or superiority in anything from sports to music to money-making, you have to put in 10,000 hours of practice, involvement, learning, fine-tuning, or any such effort that takes your skill and talent to a world-class level. Ask any true expert in any subject and they will tell you that their success didn’t come naturally. It had to be nurtured and developed over countless hours, 10,000 to be sure.

That’s what I mean by enjoying the process. The end result of achieving a Ph.D. in history, making it to the major leagues in baseball, or even composing a concerto didn’t happen without endless study, constant practice, incredible focus, a measure of talent, and almost total dedication to the process. The end result, the goal for which you strive, is more than the sum of the parts it takes to get there. But the journey to achieve that end is what makes the experience so exciting. It’s the culmination of effort that makes the ride to the top so successful, not just the end result of getting there.

Here are a few Business & Life Tips to think about….

Business Tips:

• Don’t extend your business dealings too far beyond your core knowledge. You’ve spent years building expertise in an area. Use it.
• In business, it’s good to ask to what degree you are maintaining and improving what works, and purging or replacing what doesn’t.
• Take a chance. Start a business that fills a need. Create the product that no one has. Do the work that doesn’t exist. Just try.

Life Tips:

• If we learn something each day, help someone each day, and bring joy to another each day, we can consider that a really good day.
• Things move really fast today. It’s good to practice slowing down. John Wooden said it this way: “Be quick, but don’t hurry.”
• Life is too short to waste, yet we think nothing of throwing precious time away on meaningless issues and irrelevant people.

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