Mindful Monday - Respect the Process

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as who you become by achieving your goals.” – Henry David Thoreau

Goal: An object or end that one strives to attain.

Means to an End: Something done only to produce a desired result (the process).

Process: A series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.

Success, move over. The goal is not the goal.

A goal is an end, and what one usually seeks to achieve is the means to that end. The process (the means to the end) eclipses the goal (the end).

Paradoxically, the goal of the goal is not the goal but one of the means by which the goal will be achieved.

Three of the Many Goals of Goals:

The Process of Progress – In pursuit of a goal, one tends to develop emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, often inspiring the goal in the first place. The goal of the goal is the change that accompanies the process of progress.

The Process of Tenacity – The advancement of sheer determination and will is more than a mere byproduct of striving for goals, they are often the genuine stimuli for them.

The Process of Proving – Each human is a result of who he believes himself to be. Through the process of achieving goals (the means to an end), he receives proof that he can become someone different than he already is.

“Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery of why we climb.” – Greg Child, Mountain Climber