Process vs Outcome

 

Often when we do something, we have an expectation of what the outcome will be. Go to bed so
you’ll be energized in the morning. Eat food so you’ll no longer be hungry. See the new Star Wars movie so you’ll be entertained. And on and on.

Sometimes our preconceived expectations are met. Other times they are not. And depending on the sort of person you are, disappointments can be devastating or easily brushed off. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle of this scale.

We are taught as children that our actions always have an outcome; sometimes good and sometimes bad. But few of us were ever taught to focus on the process, the steps leading to the outcome. We are sometimes told it doesn’t matter how, as long as we get the expected results.

This kind of thinking leads us to only consider the beginning and the end. Both of those states are short lived and do not represent the effort, thought and emotions experienced during the process between the beginning and the end. It can also cause us to freeze with indecision, especially if the expected result is particularly grand, distant, and seemingly impossible. So we stand at the starting line often too afraid to step forward because we are only focusing on the finish line which is so very far away and not the journey that leads us there.

As artists, creatives, we have the opportunity to revel in the process, to surround ourselves with the feeling of doing, being in the moment as each moment on the journey passes and each additional brush stroke, sentence, choreographed movement, guitar riff joins with the next forming steps that produce a finished work. Yes, we want the outcome to be successful. But if we only focus on the finish line, we miss the best parts of creating, of living really, that middle bit known as the journey, the process.

Why put our attention into the process?? Its where we spend most of our time. When we enjoy the process we wake each day excited for the joy of each step. The result/destination has no meaning without the process/journey that brought us there. When we take time to enjoy each step of life things become more joyful. And, when you focus only on the end, the goal, you can create crippling anxiety for yourself – I know this personally.

I’ve been on many road trips with my childhood family, my own children and on my own. While I do remember where we were going, often the most poignant memories come from things that were experienced on the way there.  Like seeing a moose on the side of the road munching slowly as cars whiz by. Like building sandcastles at the beach with my kids. Or being moved up to first class on the way to Florida.

We all share two major experiences, birth and death. What happens between is up to us. So its especially important that we pay attention to the journey, find joy in it and when we do, the outcome becomes secondary to the life that we create through the process of our journey.

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