Everybody wants to reach their goals. After all, that’s part of the definition of success, “an accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” But to truly be successful, there has to be more than that. You have to love the journey.
Success without passion is like darkness without light. You’ll never see the joy from your accomplishments. Often, people get caught up in the destination, but the journey is really what’s important.
Understanding Your Passion
In order to make the journey, rather than the destination, your focal point, you need to truly understand your passion. If you are trying to find success solely for the sake of making money, that in itself is not really a passion. It’s an empty longing for material things. Your passion comes from what it is you love to do and what you want to do for others.
If you love to work with wood and build things, and you’d like to design your own line of unique furniture out of salvaged materials, that is a passion. If you love the idea of providing stylish furnishings for others… bam! You have a passion worthy of turning into a business.
You need to start with passion. Otherwise, any business you develop will likely flounder. You’ll lose interest. But even that’s okay. If it’s part of the overall journey that leads you to achieving your goals.
Love the Journey Even When You Take Wrong Turns
I’ve had a lot of fleeting ideas along my journey. At one point I wanted to develop tiny house plans, so I bought a bunch tools to start making designs. I never followed through. Another time, I thought I’d grow and sell bonsai tress. I bought books and started studying the process only to lose interest.
Those adventures part of my journey. Learning happened. I enjoyed my short bursts of energy from those possibilities. In the end, I discovered that although I love tiny houses and bonsai trees, I’m not passionate enough about either to make them into something I do on a regular basis.
My own journey continually leads me back to two things: music and writing. I also enjoy sharing my work with others and helping others along their own journeys. I’m a teacher at heart.
It’s Not the End, It’s the Trail that Matters
I like to hike. When I was younger, I always felt the need to reach the end of the trail. With age, I no longer feel that need. I can be happy walking a mile of two and turning back. Why? Because that is part of the greater journey. And I see things of beauty along the way.
Reaching the end of things is overrated. Of course we need to complete certain pieces and projects in order to improve our art and measure our accomplishments. If I stopped writing this blog post right now…
it would feel incomplete. If you’re a long-distance runner, stopping after a single mile would be silly. But stopping after 10, 15, 0r 22 miles wouldn’t really matter as much.
The Point Is Simple
Don’t stress about completion. Focus on each step. Completion will come. Even when you don’t complete something, and that will happen, you can still learn from your efforts. If you can’t find satisfaction in those incomplete projects, you might be chasing the wrong things.
As a writer and musician, I’ve learned to love my partial pieces, and even the ones I delete. They’re all part of the journey that I love. I encourage you to find your passion and love the journey in the process of creating a more happy and successful life.
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