This was one of the late Steve Jobs favorite maxims. He'd share this during executive retreats, board meetings and daily meetings with his closest staff. I feel its something to keep in mind at all times.
Recently, I had someone ask me a series of questions which seemed quite random at face value. I was confused but answered any way. But followed up with a question of my own - "Why the random questions?". To which the response was, "I wanted to see if you were results or process driven". Turns out my answers painted a picture of me being a mix of both which I'd probably agree with.
The content of my writing here is mostly about sport but the title of this post applies to any and everything we do. While my answers point to me being a mix of process and results driven, too often I find myself fixated on a result - or rather, how to obtain a specific result (maybe thats the mix of both at play?). I'll be the first to tell anyone who'll listen that having a very defined list of goals is paramount to actually achieving those goals. This applies to not just sport but ones career, personal relationships, professional relationships or simple self improvement and everything in between. But simply having goals and working towards those goals with too much tunnel vision means you miss out on very valuable learnings along the way.
I've had a few "failures" this year in regards to sport which got me down at times. Made me question myself, my motivations, my coach and anything else that came to mind. I'd have my mind racing trying to "figure it out". Pin point where it all went wrong. At some point I allowed myself to reflect on the journey, the process, which proved helpful and insightful. But what if I was more attentive throughout? Not just reflective in failure but in success - because there were successes. Often one might hear how there's so much to be learned in our successes and even more in our failures. I believe there's even more to be learned in the process or journey taken on our way towards our goals.
I challenge everyone reading to be more present in the now. Be more attentive in the process and more reflective along the way. In everything you do. Once you've achieved your next goal or milestone, you'll have many more learnings to bring with you as you work towards the next. And be more appreciative of the result.
Recently, I had someone ask me a series of questions which seemed quite random at face value. I was confused but answered any way. But followed up with a question of my own - "Why the random questions?". To which the response was, "I wanted to see if you were results or process driven". Turns out my answers painted a picture of me being a mix of both which I'd probably agree with.
The content of my writing here is mostly about sport but the title of this post applies to any and everything we do. While my answers point to me being a mix of process and results driven, too often I find myself fixated on a result - or rather, how to obtain a specific result (maybe thats the mix of both at play?). I'll be the first to tell anyone who'll listen that having a very defined list of goals is paramount to actually achieving those goals. This applies to not just sport but ones career, personal relationships, professional relationships or simple self improvement and everything in between. But simply having goals and working towards those goals with too much tunnel vision means you miss out on very valuable learnings along the way.
I've had a few "failures" this year in regards to sport which got me down at times. Made me question myself, my motivations, my coach and anything else that came to mind. I'd have my mind racing trying to "figure it out". Pin point where it all went wrong. At some point I allowed myself to reflect on the journey, the process, which proved helpful and insightful. But what if I was more attentive throughout? Not just reflective in failure but in success - because there were successes. Often one might hear how there's so much to be learned in our successes and even more in our failures. I believe there's even more to be learned in the process or journey taken on our way towards our goals.
I challenge everyone reading to be more present in the now. Be more attentive in the process and more reflective along the way. In everything you do. Once you've achieved your next goal or milestone, you'll have many more learnings to bring with you as you work towards the next. And be more appreciative of the result.