When our goal is an outcome that fails, our brains amplify the pain with self-judgment. When we switch to the pleasure of process, our satisfaction comes from our ability to adjust our process with feedback. We are always improving. No failure!
Our brains are programmed to want outcomes.
Many vision boards are about outcomes. They capture the fancy car, the chalet in the mountains, an attractive mate, or exotic vacations. Most of us have dreams about the lifestyle and possessions that we desire. For others whose focus is caring about the world, we desire equality, justice, and fairness.
These outcomes become our dreams.
Depending on how we go about getting the desired outcome, we can either experience continual failure, or pride in what we have accomplished.
The difference? Process over outcome.
Focusing on a desired outcome without giving any thought to the process of achieving it = discouragement and hopelessness.Â
What processes support the outcome we want?
As we improve our process, that is a victory in and of itself. We can get feedback from the process and continually improve it. Repeated processes become habits that are even more easily repeated as they become part of our lives. Once we establish a process for one outcome, get feedback, and then improve the processes, we become experts in process creation and integration in our lives.Â
Define your outcome.
Then, drop into the processes that are most likely to produce the outcome. Notice the results of the process. Then, with that experience, adjust the process. You become an agent of your own change. This agency feels so good, it becomes a skill, behavior and belief about your very identity. Once we have this ability, our life changes from one of discouragement about failed outcomes to one of agency and power.
