Why the Journey is More Important Than Success

“Success is a journey,” I bet you have heard this phrase over and over again. But what does it mean? And why do people emphasize the journey instead of the destination? Isn’t it that the result is what you’re looking for? Well, in this article, I’m going to share with you why the journey is more important than success itself.

There are always 2 things you need to achieve what you want:

First, your destination, or the result you desire. What is the thing that you want to achieve? What kind of results do you want? What goals or visions do you have?

And next, the journey. The journey is the progress of what and how you do to get there.

The problem with most people is that they are putting in too much focus on the destination/results/goals.

What you need to be focusing on is not so much about the result, instead, you should be focusing on the progress/journey.

Progress is More Important than Results

Your progress (the journey) is always more important than your results (destination). The reason being that your results are determined by your progress.

Your behaviors and lifestyles are the factors that get you the results you want. Hence, if you want a different result, you just need to change your behavior.

In other words, what you do determines what you get.

Unfortunately, most people seem to get this wrong. They focus on their goals and when they don’t get the results they want, they change their goals.

It is never about your goals or dreams. Rather, it is about what you do and your daily actions.

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.

Alexander Den Heijer

Therefore, when you fail to achieve your goals or wondering why you are not living the dream lifestyle you desire, take a look at your progress.

Look at yourself and what you do every day. Are your daily actions getting you the results you want?

Do you want to become wealthy but are not doing anything to make yourself wealthy?

That’s exactly what is happening to most people out there.

They have dreams and goals, but they are not making the right progress that will get them the results they want.

See Yourself in Progress

There was a study conducted on visualization on process versus outcome.

The study was conducted on a group of students before the exam. Students were asked to either visualize achieving their desired grade or visualize themselves studying.

And guess what the researchers discovered?

They found that the group of students who visualized the process (studying) achieved better grades and results than those students who visualized the results they wanted.

This shows that visualizing the process is far more powerful than visualizing the outcome.

You want to focus on the journey, not the destination.

Why the Journey is Everything

Take a look at this picture below:

This is important because the picture above says everything about the journey.

You see, it has nothing to do with the results. It is about your journey and transformation.

Imagine you are playing games. The character in the game is at level 5. And when you encounter an enemy at level 9, you will find the enemy is difficult to beat.

But as you progress through the game and you level up your character, say to level 15, the same level 9 enemy becomes an easy encounter. It doesn’t pose a threat anymore.

Now, if you are earning $100,000 a year and you face a $50,000 problem, do you think that is a huge problem? It will be a big problem, isn’t it?

What if you are earning $10 million a year? Do you think that a $50,000 problem is still going to be a huge problem?

The same goes for the success you want.

It is not about how big the success you want to achieve, it is about how big a person you can grow.

As you go through your journey, making progress, improving, and growing, you are leveling yourself up.

And the more you grow, the bigger the success you can create.

This is why success is about the journey, not the destination.

You should focus on progress and not the result.

Yes, you want to have goals. You want to identify your destination, but when it comes to creating results, you want to focus on the journey, not the destination.

Success is About What You

To put things simple, success is about you. It is about improving yourself and growing yourself to become the right person that is worthy of the success you want.

You can’t be successful with your current characteristics, habits, behaviors, thinking, and attitudes.

Where you are right now is the result of your habits and thinking. And if you want to make a change or achieve more, you need to change the way you think and your behaviors.

You can’t just set a goal to be successful and then wish that things will come to you. No, you have to change yourself first to attract the results.

Hence, if you are committed to achieving success, you need to work on yourself.

Become the right person with the right habits and mindset, so that you will attract the right results into your life.

How to Succeed in Your Journey to Success

Now that you understand why the journey is more important than the destination. So, what can you do to improve your odds of success? What can you do to transform yourself to become the right person for the success you want?

Well, here are 3 tips…

1. Focus on Making Progress

First and most important of all, focus on making progress. Focus on the journey, not the result.

It is your progress that will get you the results you want, hence, progress matters.

If you are not achieving your goals or are not living the life you desire, evaluate your progress.

• Are your everyday actions contributing to the results you want?
• Are your habits in alignment with the lifestyle you desire?
• Is your mindset getting you the success you want?

These are the things you should focus on. When what you do every day changed, you will get different results.

You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.

John C. Maxwell

Read: How to Change Your Mindset to Take Massive Action for Success

2. Focus on Improvement

Yes, focus on improvement. Grow yourself to become the right person you want to become.

You should often ask yourself, who do you want to be, not what, but who. When you grow and transform into the right person, you will attract the right results.

If you want to become a successful stock investor, then you need to work on yourself to adopt the right habit, thinking, and behavior of a successful investor.

The same goes if you want to become a successful internet entrepreneur. Work on yourself so that you develop the right habit and mindset that will get you to the right destination.

Read: 31 Little Things You Can Do to Improve Yourself Every Day

3. Focus on the Journey

Enjoy the journey. There is a saying:

If you want the rainbow, you have to deal with the rain.

There is an opportunity cost to everything that you want.

• If you want to build a side internet business, then you will have to sacrifice your leisure time at night to build the business.
• If you want to lose weight and get back in shape, then you have to spend more time exercising and strictly follow a healthy diet plan.
• If you want to become a successful blogger, you need to read, learn, improve, and work on your blog.

If you want success, you need to learn how to deal with the problems and challenges that you face in the journey.

Thus, my advice is: enjoy the journey.

Instead of complaining about the rain, learn how to dance with it.

Life is like a roller coaster. It has its ups and downs. But it’s your choice to scream or enjoy the ride.

Here’s a great guide on how to enjoy the journey from You Have A Calling. You should check out this article.

Conclusion

The phrase, “Success is a journey, not a destination”, is true. It is what you do in the journey that determines your destination.

Remember, the doing is more important than the outcome. And follow the 3 tips given to boost your rate of success.