If a “never lose” strategy would exist, I think this would be it: “focus on the process, not on the outcome”. Visualizing a result, a goal, enhances your chances to succeed, as discussed here. It’s also 100% necessary to know where you’re going, when you start to plan. However, when you focus on the process, you start to enjoy the ride. It also makes it easier to adapt which is a must have skill nowadays.

So, what does it mean to focus on the process and not on the outcome?

Explain it to me like I’m five

Say you’re goal is to lose weight. You’ve translated that to a smart objective of reaching 70 kg / 154 lbs. To focus on the outcome would mean to obsess over a number and an ideal projection of how you would look. Focus on the process means paying attention daily to what you eat, how much, do sports, etc. Therefore, while taking this journey, your health, stamina and libido improve.  You might even realize you were using food as a defence mechanism to reduce anxiety. As you change, people (friends, partner, colleagues) will notice it. If you focus exclusively on the goal, you won’t enjoy any of the perks coming up from raising your standards and working on yourself.

Say your goal is to build a fantastic team. Whatever you envision now, at the moment you set your goal, it will not match the outcome. People will leave, will evolve, the world around you will change. Not to mention it’s hard to translate this into a smart objective. A focus on the process shifts your attention to building a healthy culture, upgrading people management skills, recruitment skills, etc. There’s a whole lot of work to be done and its results are not neglectable. You don’t get 5 stars from the beginning. Even if you could, they wouldn’t last if it wasn’t a natural journey.

Alright, so I think the distinction is clear. Now let’s dig into details a bit.

Why shouldn’t you focus on the outcome?

Passed the planning phase and once a goal has been set, focusing on the outcome exclusively is not healthy. If you have the slightest tendency towards OCD, you might become obsessed by your goal. Sleepless nights, chaotic eating, physical neglect – you could be in for the whole package.

It’ll make you sad or depressed. A focus on the outcome is a depression trap. Clearly, until you reach your goal, reality will differ. Even when you reach it, there’s a good chance it doesn’t match expectations. Especially if you say: “I’ll be happy when…” (this should be an Aha! moment 😉). Postponing happiness and tying it to something material, never works.

Activities can become a burden. “Are we there yet?”.  A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. If you start counting how many steps are in a thousand miles, you’ll not be too happy. There’s even a psychological trick to setting milestones, but we’ll discuss that in a later article.

What changes when you focus on the process?

A focus on the process means paying attention and sticking to all the little things you have to do.

It builds discipline. It takes minimum 21 days to build a habit. More if you want to make sure it will last. Focus on the process creates durable habits, because – by definition – a process doesn’t have a clear end date. A process stops either when it’s no longer needed or when its goal has been reached.

Resilience increases. On your journey you’ll face obstacles and oppositions. You can learn to take the path of least resistance or consume all your energy to have things your way. You’ll feel like giving up at some point. But when you focus on the process, you’ll start to know better what you’re made of. Don’t consider yourself unbreakable. That’s the wisdom of a rock. How do you know something is unbreakable? Only by hammering it down with bigger and bigger forces. I wouldn’t want that for myself and neither for you. Instead, you can say you’re unstoppable. That’s the wisdom of water. Adapt when facing obstacles: move to the side, jump, go underneath. Adapt.

You enjoy the ride. Any process brings benefits along the way. You just have to see them. What does a healthy human do when something is good? You keep the good and try to enhance it, multiply it if possible. This way you’ll feel the benefits before reaching the goal.

Focus on the process – wrap up

In project management we use process control. We do that, because sticking to the process instils quality. The end goal can depend on a lot of factors which might be out of your hands. But we know why we do things the way we do.

Last, but not least, here are two tricks that will help you: make it fun and get your peeps on board! Do you find it hard to go out for a daily walk or run? Get a dog – it will definitely make it fun. Run with a friend or as part of a club. Do you find it hard to stick to a routine? Get some naggers  – that always works for me.

I know you’ll make it!

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