#29: process over outcome
What's on my mind
With every project that I work on, the ideology that one day it will be done or if I work hard enough, then I'll get to do this other thing, becomes less and less meaningful.
It's never going to be eventually different in some fundamental way.
It's never going to be over.
It requires a shift in mindset. And I don't mean it in a negative way.
Embracing this truth enables me to be more intentional about the things I spend my time on.
It's also a good reminder to focus more on the process.
And less on the outcome.
👋 Welcome to the 29th volume of Out of Curiosity, a weekly newsletter promoting ideas to help get 1% better everyday.
Every week, I go through nearly 100 pieces of content (from books and podcasts to newsletters and tweets), and bring you the best in this newsletter.
In this issue:
📚 Delivering Happiness (by Tony Hsieh)
😌 Growth without goals
🧢 The benefits of collecting
👋 Haider Al-Mosawi
📚 Delivering Happiness (by Tony Hsieh)
It was shocking to hear the news of Tony's passing. Too soon! He was a real inspiration, and this book specifically inspired me a lot in building and running companies when I read it back in 2015.
Notes on happiness, personal values, and taking action:
Happiness is really just about four things: perceived control, perceived progress, connectedness (number and depth of your relationships), and vision/meaning (being part of something bigger than yourself).
Envision, create, and believe in your own universe, and the universe will form around you.
Your personal core values define who you are, and a company's core values ultimately define the company's character and brand. For individuals, character is destiny. For organizations, culture is destiny.
There’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.
Never outsource your core competency.
😌 Growth without goals
The idea of viewing success in any context as a series of gradual micro accomplishments, rather than one huge breakthrough, has come up time and time again. I shared some musings in Out of Curiosity #11 on this topic.
Success is about building a set of daily practices, it is about growth without goals. Continuous, habitual practice(s) trumps achievement-based success.
Based on this line of thought, experimenting with compounding daily habits can have a major impact on the final outcome, whatever that might be.
Here are some examples of these "continuous" goals:
No complaining
100 push ups
No sugar
Write 500 words
Read
Floss
🧢 The benefits of collecting
One Thing Leads to Another is a short film about collecting, cycling caps, art and design, personal connections and why it’s worth doing something for a long time, even if the benefits are not clear at first.
Many think some people are special but usually those people just put a lot more time in it than others.
This applies to sports, arts, almost everything.
It’s worth doing something for a long time, even if the benefits are not always clear. Good surprising things come out of it. You also learn about yourself in the process.
📚 A line from a book that stuck with you
Common sense isn't common action.
The Happiness Advantage (by Shawn Achor)
🐦 A Twitter account to follow
Creator of 750words.com, a website I've been using for journaling for over 10 years, and author of "Why Are We Yelling?", a book promoting constructive conversations. He's a maker I admire and I believe his work on promoting dialogue and understanding is much-needed today.
🎧 A song you'd listen to all day on repeat
🤔 A question that's been on your mind lately
How can I make my current commitments as visible to me as possible, so I don't get distracted by non-essentials?
👋 Follow Haider
Final Thought
If you're thinking of doing an annual review, you might enjoy checking out this guide by Steve Schlafman. I came across it on the last issue of BrainPint, which I also recommend subscribing to.
Until next week,
Reza 🍋