Focus on the Path, Not the Destination
“When you can see mastery as a path you go down instead of a destination you arrive at, it starts to feel accessible and attainable. Most assume mastery is an end result, but at its core, mastery is a way of thinking, a way of acting, and a journey you experience.” -Gary Keller
How often do you hear someone say their life would be a whole better if they just had “X”?.
Or that they just need “X” to start a blog, write a book, or start practically anything that would mean taking control of the outcomes to their life?
That’s describing basically 95% of the population, right?
It’s scary to try and arrive at a new destination without having a clear idea of how to get there.
But that’s because most people are focused solely on the destination, rather than the path they need to go down to get there.
When you focus on the path, you discover that reaching the destination is not overly difficult.
This is Backed By Research
This is no theory. This is a genuine fact of the matter.
There’s been many studies which have observed students to see the impact of visualization on outcomes. We’ll take this one: ‘The Influence of a Process Versus an Outcome Orientation on Tennis Performance and Knowledge.’
In this study, 66 college students who were enrolled in three beginner tennis classes are the participants.
Each class was assigned to a group: In one group students were instructed to visualize the outcome (Such as scoring a good grade in the test).
Another group were told to visualize the path needed to achieve the desired outcome (Such as visualizing all the study sessions needed to earn that good grade).
And a control group, who weren’t instructed to do anything specifically.
The result? It was those students who visualized the path that had greater achievement — they spent more time organizing, planning, and preparing for the test and achieved better grade scores compared to those who simply visualized the outcome.
WOW! Who would have thought?
In his book, The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau shared this thought:
“If you think you can manifest your way to money simply by thinking about it, put this book down and spend your time doing that.”
Equally, if you think you can manifest your way to your desired destination simply by thinking about it, then exit this page and spend your time doing that.
Achieving anything worth while is a path you go down, not a destination you arrive at.
Small, Continually Steps Lead to Big Success
“Small, seemingly inconsistent steps completed consistently over time will create a radical difference.” -Darren Hardy
Most people are incredibly impatient.
They think living an incredibly successful life is something that happens overnight.
They work hard for a day, or maybe even a week. And when they don’t see all the results at once, they quit.
What they fail to understand, is that to get big results, you first have to go small.
Even the smallest improvements in your life will be catalysts driving you to change your entire life.
How? Change creates momentum.
As you improve, the more you want to improve.
It’s incredibly accelerating knowing you’re a better version of you today than you were yesterday. And who knows where you’ll be tomorrow if you put the work in.
So don’t be afraid to take even the smallest step to towards your dream. Small, constant steps over time will create a radical difference.
Most people won’t. They’re afraid of doing the work, they’re of afraid of what of people might think of them, and they’re afraid to fail.
They think ‘overnight success’ would be a whole lot easier, but that doesn’t exist.
“You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.” -Jim Rohn
You Attract What You Are
“Successful people make money. It’s not that people who make money become successful, but that successful people attract money. They bring success to what they do.” -Wayne Dyer
Read that again.
Successful people are successful because they bring success to what they do.
This is no mystery. Henry Ford once said: “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.”
If you think you’re capable of bringing about extraordinary changes to your life, you will.
On the other hand, if you tell yourself you could never live a life of mastery, you likely won’t.
In this way, you are the designer of your own destiny. You choose how you think, which determines how you act and that subsequently attracts who you become.
For 3 months I’ve been writing on medium. I now have over 600 followers and an audience of amazing individuals who read my work.
Do you know how many followers I had and how many people read my work when I wrote for 6 months without publishing anything?
None.
It’s only through acting in a way that aligns with the person you want to become that you began to attract the things into your life that will make you that person.
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” -Paulo Coelho
In Conclusion
Knowing your desired destination is how you begin. Taking even the smallest steps along that path is where you start.
Don’t live for the destination, live for the journey!
A better you tomorrow, starts today.
