I am the most impatient person I know.
No matter how starved I am, I would never wait in a long line just to grab something to eat.
Waiting never felt good to me until I realized how powerful and life-changing it is to embrace patience.
Five years ago, I could only dream of writing for a living.
It was my most coveted career goal.
Yet, for some reason, I tried anything but it.
I dabbled in social media, financial advising, forex trading, and others, but never writing.
And now I think I can already answer WHY.
It’s because I never have the patience to sit down, put words into paper or screen, and stick to it for a long time.
I just love the idea of calling myself a writer, but I didn’t love the idea of the mental work that comes with it (the process).
As a result, I hid it in the corner of my mind while I let myself be distracted by shiny careers and side hustles online.
At one point, I tried to create a blog and even write more than a dozen articles.
But since I was so focused on the results I wanted, I hated my slow progress.
And there’s nothing more heart-breaking in the world than quitting something you love for that simple reason.
Before I turned 25, there was this strong pull inside me to start pursuing writing seriously, and I was willing to do anything to get it.
I invested in a writing coach.
I spent money on writing courses.
I pitched to hundreds of writing job posts.
I wrote ugly headlines, ugly posts, and ugly marketing materials.
I have to accept deep inside that these are what it takes to improve and stay in the game.
Now that I have been a copywriter for more than two years, I can say that I’ve improved a lot simply because I focus more on the process and not the outcome.
This exact mindset is what I’m trying to replicate in my side-project, which is writing in the blog.
Copywriting is a different beast, and it has all the elements I love.
Strategy. Psychology. Marketing. Persuasion.
But another aspect of writing that I want to explore more is blogging as a means of self-expression (and maybe future monetization).
I’ve been writing for almost a few months now, and I can say that those three months have given me a sense of fulfilment I haven’t felt for quite a long time.
And what really helped me achieve this was that I focused more of my attention on the process rather than the outcome.
Yes, imagining building an audience or earning money from your writing is fun.
But doing something you love every day is way more enjoyable, realistic, and sustainable.
You’ll feel good about the process.
You’ll be more flexible and adaptable.
You’ll develop a growth mindset.
You’ll avoid getting anxious about your outcomes.
Most of all, you’ll appreciate your journey to self-awareness, self-mastery, and skill development more than anyone else.
So now, how do you focus on the outcome, not the process?
Are there action steps you need to follow to become who marks every step worthwhile?
Let’s talk about them.
1. Create a Road map with Smaller Tasks as Milestones
We all dream big because we want to see ourselves in a better position than where we are now.
We fantasize how awesome it might be to have that hot summer body, that millions of dollars in our bank account, or that thousands of readers in our email list.
There’s nothing wrong in imagining all these things.
But unfortunately, more often than not, it takes a long, arduous process to get what we want.
Not to mention the discipline, patience, and determination that you need to work on daily.
Every time I wanted to embark on a new project a few years ago, I would always start with an ambitious goal and a grandiose plan that came with it.
Then, after a few weeks of working on it, the boredom started to kick in, and the motivation started to fade.
That’s why when I started this blog, I promised myself I would never set an unrealistic expectation.
I always dream of writing to document my thoughts, and I will never forgive myself if I quit again just because I can’t hit a certain # of traffic, followers or subscribers.
I want this to be a sustainable project that I like and enjoy.
So instead of aiming to achieve any vanity metric, I created a simple 5-year roadmap.
And in my first year of blogging, my biggest goal was to write 30-50 articles.
That means I must write approximately 2-4 articles a month.
Of course it involves other nuances like idea generation, brainstorming, outlining, writing, and editing but in a nutshell, my weekly milestone is to just write 1 article a week.
Because of this, I put myself in a great position to focus more on the process and not on the outcome.
If you like my approach, you can also do the same thing.
Create a big goal you want to achieve, break it down into smaller tasks, and then make those tasks your milestones.
Whenever you hit 1 milestone, don’t forget to pat yourself on the back.
Small progress is still progress, so don’t underestimate your wins.
As you slowly progress towards your dream, you’ll develop a deep sense of fulfilment and pride that you won’t experience if you do nothing.
2. Avoid the Comparison Trap as Much as You Can
Social media can be a double-edged sword.
It gives you access to what people do and have in their lives – their flashy cars, expensive vacations and new fancy things.
These flashy images can trigger negative emotions like jealousy, envy, and insecurity.
So, if you can’t shift your mindset and go beyond your ego, what you see online can do you more harm than good.
When I was just starting as a writer, I felt so insecure whenever I saw those writers killing it in their careers.
I failed to realize these people had probably spent years, even decades, honing their craft.
Now that I have these insights, I feel inspired to embark on my own journey and follow my path to mastery.
Stop comparing yourself to others is easier said than done.
And if you find it hard to completely switch off from social media, here’s what I suggest you do:
- Unfollow all the accounts that don’t add value to your life, such as those that share useless entertainment and self-deprecating memes.
- Start following the people who post valuable content that educates and inspires you to become a better version of yourself.
If you have a specific goal you want to achieve, search for accounts that already have the results you want or that are documenting their journey towards that goal.
When you see someone successful, you see that everything can be possible.
And when you see someone aiming to be one, you feel less lonely in the process.
People online are in different stages of their lives.
That’s why it’s completely useless to compare ourselves to them.
Setting a goal is very personal, which means your process is also very personal.
When we remove our attention from other people and focus on the smaller milestones we talked about earlier, we can make better progress than endlessly scrolling to see what people are up to online.
3. Reconnect With Your Deeper Purpose
There’s a good reason why we don’t like doing things we hate.
But sometimes, we must push ourselves to do something we don’t enjoy because it’s what it takes to achieve our goals.
If you want to focus on the process and not the outcome, you need to constantly remind yourself why you are doing it in the first place.
Because I want to become a writer, I decided that I’ll do whatever it takes to improve my writing skills.
But the problem is there are days when I want to do something other than sit down and write.
So, I asked myself this question:
“Why do you really want to become a writer, Jiha?”
My simple answer is that I want to document my journey by sharing what I’ve learned and experienced so far.
But as I dug deeper, I was surprised to discover more reasons why.
#1 – I can fulfil my childhood dream of become a teacher by writing.
I graduated with a secondary education degree but only taught for a year and a half. Since writing is all about sharing your ideas, I figured this is the best avenue to teach at the moment.
Becoming
#2 – It’s a good break from my jobs.
Don’t get me wrong, I like my job as a part-time copywriter and part-time online business manager.
But as someone who writes a lot of B2B copy and manages a coaching business, I want to do something different outside of them.
I like to explore topics that interest me, such as blogging, productivity, personal development, etc.
In short, the reason why I want to become a writer is because I want to do something that aligns with my values, dreams, and interests.
When I remind myself of that reason, valuing the process becomes more important than any other achievement I can hit.
The process itself now becomes my reward.
Then determine if your answer brings more meaning to your life.
If your answer is NO, then maybe set a different goal that makes you feel excited to work on it.
If your answer is YES, then congratulations. You can unlock a different level of satisfaction and pride every time you do something you love.
Final Words
When I planned to write this article, I discovered some insights that highlight the importance of focusing on the outcome, and I agree with some of them.
But the reality is that the only thing we can control are the actions we take.
Since results are not guaranteed, why don’t we shift our mindset to loving every step of the day?
