The Outcome
September 12, 2019
I have some notes written down. My ear tunes into the inflections and phrases uttered by the narrator. I write the phrase down because at the time it seems extremely important and it makes me think. I do that all the time.
Today, There were several phrases in the book I am reading via audible. It’s Bryan Cranston’s book, A Life In Parts. He has such a way with words. I just love listening to his voice. He is an amazing actor and I could just listen to him read all day long. He makes it so entertaining.
Sometimes these phrases will spur a blog post. Sometimes they just make me sit and think about things. They make me think about life and about my life. Today the one I jotted down was about focusing on the process and not on the outcome.
That hits like a ton of bricks. I say it all the time to my clients. I tell them to enjoy the process. Because, really, what else can you do? Why go through something hating every damn minute of it. The time is going to pass. It always does. It always marches on.
If you are not focusing on the process, which with my coaching, involves planning and tracking and behavior change and habit formation and sleeping and exercising and listening to your body and watching for patterns, you are in for a world of disappointment. If you are only focusing on an outcome, you are missing the whole point. You are missing the big picture. You are missing everything. With my coaching you are there to do a job. You are there to learn about yourself. You are there to learn about food and how you relate to it. You are there to learn how you can really eat without being deprived. You aren’t there just to lose weight. If you don’t realize this and if you don’t work on yourself, and if you are only looking at the outcome, you are setting yourself up for failure. Outcome at this point is irrelevant.
So what does focusing on the process mean? It means you get your ass in there and do the work. It takes guts to take that first step. It takes guts to want to change. It takes guts to open yourself up and admit that you need to lose weight or that you need to work on yourself. It takes guts to admit that you’ve let yourself go and you just don’t know how to find your way back. THAT is part of the process. You do a job. You do that job the best way you can. There is no good or bad. There is no failure. There is learning. There is learning to like yourself. Because you know as well as I do, at one point we have all stood in front of that mirror and told ourselves some pretty nasty shit. How can we not believe it? If you do that all the time, how can you not believe it?
When you put yourself primary, things change. A shift in perspective can change your life. A shift in mindset can change your life. A shift. A small shift. It can change you. It really can. Slowly you start to realize you can do this. You get in there. You do the job that needs to be done. You start seeing results. You start enjoying your life. You start enjoying the process. See. That’s what it takes. Now look in the mirror. What do you tell yourself now? The old you, looking in the other mirror is a time released lesson. It’s a lesson in love. Learn to like yourself. Learn to love yourself. Learn to live in the moment and enjoy the process instead of looking for the outcome.