Enjoy The Process
Tanmay Vora
We live in a hyper-competitive world. Students are anxious about their annual results. Professionals are anxious about their next appraisal. Business owners are anxious about their bottom lines and so on. You get the point.
This anxiousness does not allow us to enjoy the process. Sure, goals are important and attaining them is even more important. Ultimately, our results drive us to do more.
My point is – if we constantly keep our goal in perspective (and get overwhelmed by it), we become less efficient. Anxiousness (and sometimes fear) kills creativity. We rush through the process to see if our efforts are delivering results. Quest for instant gratification can result in sub-optimal outcomes.
Watching television can ‘sometimes’ be good – I was recently watching an old episode of a musical reality show. I loved the viewpoint of one of the participants. The host of the show asked, “Do you think you will win this competition?” to which participant responded –
“I am not here to win the first spot, I am here to enjoy the process of being with such great mentors and learning the music. I only focus on my next performance (and its preparation) without getting anxious. I know that if I deliver great performances one after the another, the final outcome will take care of itself”.
That is a great way to look at our work.
Focusing on the moment, on task currently on our hands enables us to fully express ourselves. One of the best gifts we can give ourselves is to enjoy the work while we are doing it (being in the moment) – and expressing our skills fully. It is both gratifying and satisfying.
Think about it!
Very important point raised here by Tanmay and a very serious one as well. Rush for results hinders the enjoyment of process execution on the way of attaining those results.
Harsha Bhogle said in one of his speeches on ‘Achievers of Excellence’ that make the end result supreme. It’s necessary to enjoy the process and ways of attaining those results. Satisfaction at each stage of work makes the efforts more powerful.
Whenever Sachin is asked about his plans for next World Cup, he always says that my aim and focus is on my next game. That’s Attitude!
Thanks Sir for sharing this Master Piece…
Regards,
Jay Chhaya
@Jay – Thanks for sharing the example of Sachin Tendulkar – whose conduct is a case study for lot of management and leadership folks. Focusing on now helps you to concentrate on immediate priority, and do it well. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the enormity of our goals – but we need to remember that an elephant can only be eaten one piece at a time!
I have heard Harsha Bhogle’s speech at IIMA on Sports and Excellence and he also shared some GREAT insights there.
Thanks again,
Best,
Tanmay
This is really great.I loved the line ‘I know that if I deliver great performances one after the another, the final outcome will take care of itself’. It is for sure that if your give great performances without thinking of the outcome, the outcome is going to be rewarding.
When I played Table Tennis, I used to become very nervous about the final match. It is natural for everyone. But my senior used to guide me that instead of thinking of the result, just enjoy the game and stick to the basics and you will see that you will come out with flying colors.And that’s really true.
So enjoy the life 🙂
@Amit – Thinking too much about results/outcomes is a sure way to get anxious. In the reality shows, we see participants singing (originally) beautiful melodies with so much of anxiousness, that it shows on their faces which are strained. When people (who enjoy the process) perform, it looks like a flow, not like a conscious effort. Ditto with sports.
Thanks,
Tanmay
This post is really true one. We are too conscious about accomplishing the goals and final outcome and for that we continuously trying with tension and so many stress.. in this rat race we are really not enjoying our work, the process and the learning.
Once again Good post 🙂
@Megha – Thanks for the comment Megha, and affirming the ideas presented in the post.
Yes, rat race makes us anxious – and the fact is, even if you win it, you still remain a rat (which is the cause for more frustration). Focus on doing right thing, setting right goals and then enjoy the process of achieving those goals – that is my recipe for happiness!
Best,
Tanmay
[…] 2010, I wrote a post titled “Enjoy the Process”. The central idea of the post […]
[…] Here is a related quote from my 2010 post titled “Enjoy the Process”: […]
[…] driving force behind his hard practice was an imaginary fear of failure; that kept him from really enjoying his game. By the time game started, he was already exhausted! When your practice matures, it should help you […]