Process Over Results

Think of a time you really wanted something. You just had to have it. Did it seem as if the more you wanted it the further away it got from you?

Now think of a time when you really didn’t need something, but it would be nice if you got it. Did you seem to get “that” more often and more easily?

Funny how it works.

What was really happening is you were thinking of either process or results.

Compare a popular dude to a guy who obsessively wants a girlfriend. The desperate usually don’t get what they want. The “abundant” usually do.

Take a sports game for example. Usually a team gets out of sync when they’re thinking of results. They play “not to lose.” They’re afraid of losing and as a result actually lose the game (too much focus on results). The team who ends up winning is the team who is in a flow, the team who actually looks like they’re having more fun than trying to win (focus on process).

That’s why good coaches reward hustle, no matter the end result. Because when you work hard you get good results. When you work for results, you usually don’t work hard (or you work harder than you have to).

So when you sit down to practice piano, or whatever it is you do, let go of the results. The point of practice is not to get every note right. Focus on enjoying the action as much as possible.

A composer loves to compose, she doesn’t aim for the result of a composition. The composer loves the journey of writing the music because she knows the destination of finishing the composition is over in a heartbeat.

Love the act of creating more than the creation itself.

Think process over results.