Ever feel like we’re striving for something elusive? We work, we do shit and we get paid for things. Then there are other times we pursue our own creative interests when we have time. There’s a little voice in the back of our minds whispering once you make it to this point then you can be happy or settled and then from there everything will be a little bit easier.
This is a myth. It’s the biggest misconception when one is in pursuit of something. Usually, we chase a number – a dollar amount, a revenue amount, a number of followers or likes, or something more superficial.
With an insatiable appetite to get to the top, we lose sight of what’s most important to us. The journey. When you win it feels great for about 60 seconds. It’s fleeting and it brings with it a feeling of what’s next. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun but we have the ability as humans to enjoy the victory for less time than it takes to put on a pair of clean socks. This is something I wished I learned a lot earlier in my life but I think subconsciously I knew it at the time I just couldn’t articulate it.
There were cold mornings in the garage before school spent on the stationary bike that absolutely sucked but that I can vividly remember now. At the time it felt like it needed to get done to continue to get better but what I didn’t realize is how that would become a source of much-needed power and inspiration for my adult self later on.
When I needed a boost or a break I could remember this moment as 12-year-old peddling with the steam radiating off of me from the cold air meeting my body heat and sweat. These were moments of pursuit. Any success I had in my career was due to moments like this. The climb, the journey, the pursuit. You can fail a million times along the way but you always remember that you spend more time in the pursuit.
It is here where failure meets opportunity. You can expose every weakness you have and polish it. You have the ability to highlight what you suck at along the journey and use that for whatever you want to achieve. Opinions don’t matter during the pursuit. The only opinion that matters is yours. The only thing that matters in the pursuit is what’s true and what’s not.
Be true to yourself and look around during your ascent.
Don’t be trapped in a mindless pursuit. It’s got to lead somewhere for you.
What would you do to get to the top?
Once at the top then what happens? You cannot take the summit with you.
The preparation, skills, setbacks, heartbreaks, failures all add to your life’s journey. That can never be taken away from you. Even if you win or lose, that specific moment in time, the time and hard work it took to get there can never be taken away from you. Pursue wisely.