You have to stop obsessing over the outcome.
In work.
In relationships.
In your creative pursuits.
Focusing on the end goal, the finish line, the reward, can come at great detriment to what you’re actually trying to achieve.
Take this from someone who’s experienced this time and time again (like, right now).
As cliché as it sounds, the journey really is the reward.
And when you realise there’s nothing actually waiting for you at the end, the journey suddenly becomes a hell of a lot more enjoyable.
Focusing On The Outcome Kills Your Creativity
Paralysis by perfectionism.
How many times have you put off starting because you’re too worried about a perfect outcome, or it just doesn’t feel like the right time to start?
Been there, over and over again.
The truth is, worrying about the final result will never truly go away, even when you start.
Right now, I have more doubts about this whole blogging thing than before I even started.
The feelings of doubt and pressure never actually subside.
Sounds scary, but I think that gives you all the freedom and encouragement you need to just do the thing you want to do.
What makes these feelings much easier to handle (and I cannot emphasise the point enough) is the fact that my creative pursuits aren’t necessarily tied to a financial goal.
See, a lot of self-improvement gurus love to say, “if you want Plan A to work, delete Plan B.”
And whilst I agree that focusing all of your energy on Plan B (your side-hustle) will make it far more likely to succeed, it can also have the opposite effect.
When your side-hustle (Plan B) is still your side-hustle, it gives you a lot more creative freedom.
Do you think I’d be writing about drinking peppermint tea and listening to Gwen Stefani in my newsletter if I had to make money from it?
No.
If this was my plan A, I’d be copywriting for brands I don’t care about, trying to sell you writing courses in my weekly newsletter, and trying to squeeze as many seo-friendly keywords into my blog posts to try to rank higher on Google.
This creative work is not outcome driven.
And thinking I would have to make it so had stopped me from starting many times.
Writing this sentence with caffeine pulsing through my veins right now is giving me all the pleasure I need.
This is what I think you should aim for when starting out.
Do not tie it to a financial goal, and do not make it the only thing you do (just my opinion).
Focusing On The Outcome Kills Your Goals
“When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running.”
James Clear – Atomic Habits
This outcome-driven crap can manifest itself in the sneakiest of ways, and I’ve found that to be especially true when it comes to goal-setting.
Setting goals for the sole reason of reaching the end point is a waste of your time and, in my experience, not very beneficial at all.
I’ll be honest, it’s difficult to switch your focus away from the reward, and towards the activities that lead up to that reward.
James Clear says “you don’t rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.”
And when those systems are solely built to reach an endpoint, there is no reason for you to enjoy the process.
I used to be big into habit tracking.
I had a habit tracker in my journal that I would tick off every night, with activities like meditation, reading, stretching etc.
Over time, I found myself rushing through a few pages of a book and sitting down and fidgeting (or ‘meditating’) for 5 minutes, just so I could tick it off for the day.
I think this is a trap loads of people fall into – kind of like that term ‘mental masturbation’ that I mentioned in the last blog post.
You think you’re doing something productive because you’re ticking all these habits off for the day, but you’ve remembered nothing that you read that night and you didn’t have one second of mental peace during your meditation.
But at least you can say you read and meditate every night… wholesome, eh?
If you’re not truly enjoying the process, you need to change the goal.
That might mean ‘quitting’ whatever it is you’re currently doing, and I’m in full support of that.
Life’s too short to waste it achieving chasing meaningless goals that you’ve been told will make your life better.
It’s All Relative, Baby
Remember, I’m not you.
Only you will know whether or not you’re chasing something for the right reason.
But I’m starting to learn that if a goal I’m working towards doesn’t bring me joy during the process of actually working towards it, then the trajectory is way off.
Except bulking.
I’m so damn sick of eating man.
But that’s just a great example of why it’s all relative.
Because something I hate doing (eating lots, every single day) may be something you dream of doing.
This is why it’s so hard to find your answers in a book, or from a YouTube video, or from a blog post like this.
It’s literally all trial and error.
All of it.
But I do think we’re very similar, especially if you’re reading this far into the article.
And if you’re like me, then do your best to start finding the joyful moments along the path, even if that path is under the scorching Australian heat and you ain’t got no shoes on.
Hop around a bit, maybe chill in the shade for a bit, but stay on the damn path and try to stop thinking about making it back to the car in time, cause that bad boy has been sitting in the sun all day and ain’t gonna be nice to get into anyway.
