The Achilles of Achievement

Verse of the Day: Isaiah 1:17 "Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."

*This is my pathos response to the topic of process vs result oriented behaviors

“When a tree is stripped of its leaves on the eve of Autumn's first breezes, do we consider or ponder the state of its branches that are freezing?

When a monarch braces to break a crack through the walls of its chrysalis, do we consider the difficulty of its emergence? The strength required beyond the beauty of its wings?

Change is birthed in stages, a plethora of stop-motion in play, its colors properly blended through our hours, days and years. It’s the results that we acknowledge, the end that has our eyes and ears but

It is the process of elimination as it happens that truly separates the wheat from the tares.

To be a witness of the bloom in spring that we once saw a mere bulb within, makes a difference in appreciating what could be becoming what it truly is.”

As a society, we tend to be more focused on the results vs giving an adequate amount of attention to the process that yields to those results. There is a question as to why that is. My theory is because getting to the finish line is a more attractive idea than the lap it took to get there or in other words we are inspired more by completion than that of strategy. However, we do not begin this way, it is a way of thinking that is taught and learned overtime. There are those of us who embrace strategy, and those of us who prefer the end results.

In our earliest stages of life between the ages of 2-5, we are more process driven, we draw, paint, and create with reckless abandon. We have fun with our imagination and it is the movement of actually doing something that captures our focus. It isn’t until ages 6-11 that this begins to lose its luster, we just want to get things done and over with, we grow bored when our process doesn’t yield desired results and begin to abandon the process thinking in place of simply “get it done.” As a result, we become less passionate about what we are doing which begins this cycle of mundane tasks that we quickly lose focus on because it simply does not hold our attention as it once did.

Teenage years are where these ideas become semi permanent, I say this because

apart of us is still connected to being a child and as older children, most of us have adopted hobbies and things of interest that we can do for hours at a time because we like it, while there are other things that we just want to get done. For example: getting done with soccer practice for a big game vs getting homework done in preparation for a final.

Early adult years are the concrete curing years of habits that have been developing since childhood, that includes the basis of being process driven vs result driven. We choose through our habits which one we’ll be. If you are process driven, you may keep a planner, you may make lists to keep track of daily objectives, you may have a white board or special notebooks where you keep note of certain things, you may do research for your studies, you may write rough drafts and outlines for your essays or books and when it comes to vacations, you may put together an itinerary of activities and already know what you are packing because you have written it down. You have become someone who takes their time through the motions of things to ensure they are done the way you would like.

According to an online article found on Industry today, You may have a career as a teacher, Banker, construction expert, specialty chef, or have a position in government, people who have to follow a thorough and efficient process to completion. On the opposite side of the spectrum in the realm of “get-it-done”, you may be more of a fast paced person, you may talk really fast, you may type up papers without a draft or outline, you may be more of a minimalist in your style of living and your wardrobe is the bare necessities, you may have a very busy schedule but never have the time to write things down or figure out what you’re doing. Your career field may involve being a personal trainer, Office Manager or according to Industry today, you may have a career in sales or as an author.

None of this is to say that one is better than the other, simply observing attributes of both parties. There are pros and cons to being process and result driven.

The pros of being process driven are

1. Projects are more likely to be done more thoroughly and yield more satisfying results

2. Completing a task can be done more easily because there is a plan involved

3. You may be seen as more careful and observant

4. If you sell things, you may be seen as more trustworthy (you aren’t going to sell something that has not been thoroughly inspected for quality or researched for quality.)

The cons of being process driven are

1. Things may not get done in a timely manner.

2. You may get too caught up in making things “perfect”

3. You may overdo something

4. You can be deemed unreliable or inefficient for not being fast enough to do something to completion in a set time limit.

The pros of being result driven are

1. Projects are done in a timely fashion

2. You are seen as highly efficient and reliable in the workplace

3. You meet deadlines both personal and professional

4. The results of your work are backed up by your confidence in its completion.

The cons of being result driven are

1. You lack patience

2. Your projects may end up looking messy and not very well thought out

3. You may finish a project but you have to start over because its not done correctly

4. You tend to be a bit messy and unkempt

Being a person who is process driven simply means that you are reflective in life and that when you do something, it is done to the best of your ability because it has been structured around a plan, however life does not always give us the luxury of being such people, that's where result driven people come in, to remind us that time is of the essence, that things are being accomplished and goals are being met. In most cases, the very best results of anything derive from a place where there is a healthy balance of the two.

In an article published to Thrive global.com, it states that for long term success, find a perfect personal balance.

Let's chat! do you think you're more result or process oriented? Comment below! and as always

"For the love of life and literature, stay prayerful,stay positive and write on!"