When The Journey Becomes The Destination

When was the last time you saw a goal all the way through to successful completion?

Some would say it depends on the definition of the goal. For example, if your goal is to read Catcher in the Rye that’s a simple journey from point A to B so if you finish reading the book, then you completed your goal. On the other hand, let’s say your goal is to publish a book. You have a story that has been rattling around in your head for years and you’re convinced readers will love it and it will be a best seller.

From the outside, this also appears to be a straightforward journey from writing to producing the book. You may or may not attract a publisher, but it’s so easy to self-publish these days there is no reason not to achieve this goal. What ends up happening to the vast majority of writers is they will spend years telling people they are going to write a book and referring to themselves as aspiring authors; some will write a few pages and then set it aside to gather dust, while others will never put a single word on paper.

The same scenario can be played out in a hundred different ways, improve physical fitness, achieve financial security, break a habit, make a habit, and on it goes. Again and again, our efforts begin and end on the journey.

Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity, but in doing it.

~Greg Anderson

Rethinking the Journey

In fact, I’m going to live dangerously and suggest that you may actually be setting yourself up for disappointment and failure if you’re using this as your standard for pursuing goals.

Today I’m going to challenge you to rethink the popular notion that the quality of “the journey” is more important than the destination. In fact, I’m going to live dangerously and suggest that you may actually be setting yourself up for disappointment and failure if you’re using this as your standard for pursuing goals. Just to be clear, in no way am I knocking the value of the journey because when fully embraced we can grow and learn so many things in the process of striving to achieve something.

The problem is that somewhere along the line we seem to have lost sight of two factors.

First that a goal needs a deadline, and second the fact that the journey and the destination are not mutually exclusive. The journey can actually become a deterrent to our growth when we make it the main focus and relegate the destination to the coming attractions that we may or may not ever get around to.

The Journey as a Safety Net

Often the problem is the goal. We set vague goals with no clear finish line, or we set bigger goals than we can reasonably achieve and then procrastinate out of fear and uncertainty.

And sometimes, life just gets in the way.

But here’s something you may have never considered, sometimes we don’t want the journey to end. There is a certain comfort to be found in striving to achieve something. As long as you’re on this journey you have the benefits of a purpose and a destination, you can talk about your journey and enjoy the support of others cheering you along, all without the discomfort of having to challenge yourself to do the work to finish what you started.

I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged. I had poems which were re-written so many times I suspect it was just a way of avoiding sending them out.

~Erica Jong

Many people set a goal simply because it looks interesting or because they believe they should. But when the initial glow begins to wear off or it turns out to be a lot more work than they anticipated they give up and find a new fresh goal and enthusiastically head out on yet another journey.

Sounds a lot like typical New Year’s Resolutions, doesn’t it?

The Bottom Line

The Zen of the journey argument may be a great pacifier for our egos, but wandering through life with a collection of eternal journeys without ever reaching a destination leaves you with a success rate of zero and deprives you of the satisfaction and euphoria that comes with crossing the finish line.

Each goal you complete, each finish line that you cross, is more than a checkmark on a task list. They literally become milestones in your life.