On Process and Patience

“ People overestimate what they can achieve in 1 year and underestimate what they can achieve in 10 years” - Bill Gates

I start many things, I finish a few. The start is always full of energy, motivation, and enthusiasm. I am excited about what I will achieve at the end. I start imagining how my life would be after I finish. Would I look more handsome, be richer, and gain more adulation and respect? So I go hard at the start doing more than the share for the day. The initial parts are normally easy and I think I can ace it.

Then, routine sets in. After the initial spurt, the results are not immediate. The goal looks far away, and the grind is grueling. I start getting bored and, at times, disillusioned. Because the results do not come every day, I start to think of myself as a failure. Then I look at others much farther along, and I think there is probably a magic formula. Finally, another shiny thing comes along, and I abandon the last shiny thing I had.

But there have been a few times when I have not thought about the result. I have not imagined what I would be like at the end. I have just liked doing what I do every day. I have enjoyed the moment and the immediate experience without burdening my mind of what it is leading to. Hence, I have been stuck on the journey for longer. Then at some point, I start realising that I am good at it, I am much better than others who are doing the same thing.

The funny thing is, the things I am thought to be good at, were not the things I had started with the intention of acing. I had just liked the process—the curiosity and joy of learning about the new topic—the endorphin release of spending that hour at the gym or getting my hands dirty of building that indie project. I started because I wanted to do something small. Then, I liked it and stuck to it. I did it with a fixed routine every day/ week, and I got good at it somewhere along the way.

Excellence comes when I have enjoyed the process rather than burdened myself with the result.

So start taking pleasure in small moments. Find joy in learning in doing.