Process and Outcome

If an athlete were informed of the likelihood of winning Olympic gold medals, which is probably one of the most unreachable career target in the world, would she/he still be determined to take the harsh training for decades? Some of them, if really interested in the game, will still enjoy the training and find the training process quite a treatment. But if you only focus on fighting for the gold medal, taking which as a stepping stone to a better life, it's really not a good deal. Just think of spending years on an impossible gambling - not wise, seriously.

Which is more important, processes or outcomes? People kept asking this question for thousands of years. When we are working on something, sometimes painstakingly, it'd better be rewarding enough to justify our efforts. But we are always disappointed: thousands of people apply for the same college, but only one tenth of them are accepted; a hundred capable graduates apply for the same position, but only one of them is recruited. What if you are one of the unfortunate nine tenth or the ninety-nine other applicants? Majorities are facing this question. Most of them continue trying, looking for opportunities with other universities or companies until they get one. And then they will tell you that they've enjoyed the process so much that the outcome is not that important anymore.

They are not telling the truth. It is the expected outcome that drives them moving forward. They make efforts only to achieve certain objectives. Very few people choose to file application materials if they know the application will end up nothing, and even less decide to apply just for fun. When they are bothered by rejections or "thank you for application but ..." letters, it's difficult for them to tolerate their (sometimes continuous) failures all the time without wondering whether they've wasted too much time on this issue, or if there is any inherent problems with themselves. People fight to win. They can appreciate failures, but only because that will help them gain more experiences and finally lead to future successes, not the nonsense of enjoying process rather than outcomes.

Back to the question raised at the beginning of this blog. Even if I like the game so much that I don't mind undergoing all the rigorous training, I may not choose to do so: there must be better ways to enjoy it. Why don't I just keep practicing until I think I'm ready for Olympics, instead of claiming myself an Olympic athlete before I'm good enough. If a gold medal has never been the outcome I'm after, the process will be more enjoyable with less pressure, frustration and superfluous ambition. It's the same with school or job applications. Set up targets at different levels, and then go with the one you're most comfortable with. It's in this way that process can lead to the outcome you're looking for.

Most people have dreams. But dreams are different from objectives. Dreams can be illusion, imagination and fantasy, but objectives should be more practical - at least attainable through our own efforts. Processes, which provide us with knowledge, experiences and understandings of the world, will surely lead us to some outcomes - whether expected or not, which are perfect rewards to our efforts in previous years. It is from the process that we should expect some outcomes, not the reverse: setting expectations for outcomes to fill up processes.

If I overstate this topic a little bit, it's also a question on life and achievement. We can still have happy lives without achieving anything unless we believe we're predetermined to accomplish some targets. But if we do understand the importance of enjoying living, some nice outcomes may come naturally.