I was recently watching an Ido Portal documentary and he said something that put the final puzzle piece in something I’d had rolling around in my head for a while. I had been thinking about effort vs results. I don’t remember Ido’s exact quote, but it was along the lines of learn to love the process because the goal is bullshit.
Effort vs Results
What does the goal is bullshit mean? It didn’t really sink in until I started thinking about my rock climbing habit. Yup, that’s right… rock climbing again. I’m not a “serious” climber. I don’t have aspirations of getting sponsored and doing it full-time. It’s really just a fun hobby.
However, I’m a little bit of a type-A personality and can get pretty intense if I focus on something. My goal since I started climbing has been to climb 5.12’s. If you’re not familiar with the rating system, here’s a quick overview. Climbing a 5.12 means you’re a very advanced climber.
I’ve finally reached the point where I am able to climb some 5.12s, and as a result, now when I climb them, I’m hyper-focused on reaching the top. I even threw a mini temper tantrum when I fell somewhere that hadn’t given me a problem before on a climb I have been working on for a few weeks.
After that day, I realized I needed to change my perspective. I’m supposed to be rock climbing for fun. Not trying to set records and finish every climb. I decided that instead of trying to get to the top of a climb, I would try and just find fun and interesting movement inside the climb.
Not only has it made my climbing more fun, but it’s made me more willing to try challenging climbs. And since I’m more willing to play on a climb now, I’m actually climbing better.
So What’s In The Process?
It’s good to set goals. I did an article on how to set effective, reachable goals. But if our focus is too much on the goal, we miss out on enjoying where we spend most of our time. In the process. So, what does effort vs results really mean?
Enjoy the effort. Learn to love the effort and the results will happen by themselves. If you love the effort and focus on the process, you’ll have no problems reaching your goals. And you won’t feel empty after you do reach them because you’ll still have the process even after the goal is gone.
