As important as it is to have audacious goals and an expansive vision of where we want to go in life or in our careers, it is not always the best use of our energy and time to focus exclusively on a goal or objective.
After we’ve established a goal or have a good idea of where we want to end up, it’s critical to focus our valuable time and energy on the process. The process is made up of the daily actions, mindsets, and behaviors required to get to where we want to go.
Focusing and placing more of an emphasis on the process doesn’t mean that you want to achieve your goal or objective any less. It simply means that, once the goal or objective has been established, the focus shifts to what must take place for you to be able to reach your destination.
Many top-notch leaders, sports teams, and businesses adopt and celebrate this way of thinking and being, in which placing a strong focus on the process rather than the end result is important. There is one leader in particular who has popularized “The Process” and made it more prevalent than ever. Nick Saban is the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team.
Not only is Nick Saban the greatest college football coach of all time, but he is also arguably one of the greatest sports coaches of all time. It is well documented that winning a National Championship is rarely mentioned around the Alabama Football facility. This is due to the culture that Saban has created, which rigorously focuses on the process of what it takes to be great rather than a specific outcome of winning championships.
“The Process,” according to Nick Saban:
The process is really what you have to do day in and day out to be successful, we try to define the standard that we want everybody to sort of work toward, adhere to, and do it on a consistent basis. And the things that I talked about before, being responsible for your own self-determination, having a positive attitude, having great work ethic, having discipline to be able to execute on a consistent basis, whatever it is you’re trying to do, those are the things that we try to focus on, and we don’t try to focus as much on the outcomes as we do on being all that you can be.
By shifting our attention from the end goal to the steps necessary to reach that goal, we greatly increase our chances of overcoming obstacles. When we are solely focused on a goal that we are extremely passionate about, fear and doubt have a tendency to consume us more of the time, especially on days when we get knocked down.
So, rather than focusing on the end goal of any major goal or aspiration that you are currently working toward, focus on getting better and doing your absolute best for that particular day.
Whether you want to strengthen your workplace culture, improve your leadership performance, or bring out the best in your team, focus on the process of what’s required to achieve excellence.
When there is an intentional focus on the process over the outcome, everything will eventually take care of itself.