Respecting the Process

I’ve always been very goal-oriented. I’ve pretty much spent the entire first half (or more, but we’re thinking positively here) of my life focused on reaching goals. Graduating high school. Moving out/buying my first house. Getting my first job. Developing my first career. Paying off debt. Writing/finishing a book. Getting married. Publishing my first book. Writing more books. Paying off debt again. Working towards retirement. Trying to get to a point where I can focus solely on my writing. You get the idea.

The thing I’ve noticed more and more lately is, I’m far less patient with the process required to meet big (and small) goals than I used to be. I’m in such a hurry to just get a project done and move on to the next thing that I’m just annoyed and irritated at all the little things that need to be done between the start and end of the project.

The issue with smaller projects (individual books, for example), is that I need the smaller projects done before I can advance the larger projects. And those larger projects are parts of bigger projects yet, and so on and so forth. Since I’m always looking ahead, I’m focused on what I can’t do *yet*, rather than what I am doing *now*.

That’s really not a healthy or productive perspective, I don’t think.

The only way I can really complete those bigger projects/goals with any kind of good knowledge base and experience is to *not rush* the process needed to actually “level up”. Constantly trying to “go faster” or circumvent the whole, detailed process of whatever it is I happen to be working on at the time is not going to help in the long run, and it could certainly hinder things later on if I have to go back and learn things I missed earlier.

The trick then, is to learn to respect the process itself rather than focusing on a goal several steps ahead. It’s a tough shift when I’ve been looking at far-off goals my whole life, but I think it’s very necessary, especially at this point in my life.

Writing, weight loss, gardening (indoors and out), and dog training are all projects I’m working on now where I’m actively trying to respect the process and focus on learning all I can before it’s time to move on. I’ll freely admit – it’s difficult more days than others. But ultimately, I want to break down my own barriers to such things, and find a way to…if not enjoy, at least respect the process I need to go through.

With writing, revisions are my major issue at the moment. I think I’m starting to make progress as far as my attitude towards them goes, with the help of some new software and techniques I’ve been playing with. Sometimes just changing *how* I move through a process helps me to tolerate it – and sometimes even appreciate it – more easily.

Are you someone who enjoys the process? Or are you less enamored with the “journey” than the end goal like myself?

Drop a comment or email me at jamie@jamiedebree.com, or catch up with me on Facebook or Instagram. Discussion is always welcome.

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Jamie DeBree

Writer | DBA | Dog Wrangler