“Let your joy be in your journey- not some distant goal .” Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.
So which is it? Is the journey more important than the destination? Or does the goal or the desire to be more trump enjoying the journey?
I’ve been thinking about this idea this week of holding both ideas in my head at once and how difficult it seems to be at times for me.
A good example is the Black Lives Matter protests in Minneapolis and other cities. It’s possible to support Black Lives Matter AND agree that destroying commercial property and rioting is wrong. So often, I would see arguments that you you had to take one side or the other which seemed absolutely ridiculous to me.
I think the goal or the destination to what I want to achieve in life is as important if not more important than the journey. If I have a goal that doesn’t inspire me, fuel me with passion for achieving it, well I’m not going to enjoy any part of that journey!
Twenty years ago, when I quit my job as an investment banker I set out a goal to have total freedom… To work when I wanted, with whom I wanted and where I wanted. I was laser focused. It was THE thing I was working towards each day with nothing else in my life including my family taking precedence. It was my mission. I knew intuitively once I started reaching that goal I would then be a more present father, husband and better friend, etc.
Nevertheless, I did try to enjoy the journey. I would reflect on my progress and try to get into deep flow states with my work. Whether it was creating an ad template, a series of engaging headlines or just looking over due diligence. I tried to enjoy it all while at the same time freeing myself of the “job” of being a land investor.
Scott Todd will tell you the first thing to delegate is what you hate doing the most. Why? Because it slows your progress and saps you of the joy of the journey.
Each day now as I work toward more freedom and helping my clients achieve total freedom I think it’s important to do so joyfully. If you get to total freedom, but felt miserable and anxious in the “doing” of the work on the journey well that’s not a way to live day to day. I can tell you from experience that once you achieve your goal all you’ll have left is the memory and pride of the journey. With luck, you’ll have achieved your goals not with struggle, but joy.
So my advice is keep both ideas in mind. Start with a worthy goal AND enjoy each moment of the journey. One without the other is just incomplete and a lie that society may be perpetuating.
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“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald