Enjoy the process

0:03Speaker 1:Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is that if fear of rejection is getting in your way, focus on the process of what you want to do and not the results. Today's tip comes from author and entrepreneur Zhao Zhang. who was a guest on this podcast recently. Zhao explained that sometimes people are afraid to pursue a goal because they are worried about whether they will succeed at it. He says not to worry about failure or rejection or the outcome. These are often not completely in our control anyway. Instead, focus on the process.

0:57Speaker 1:In his book Easy Discipline, he writes, In our conversation, he noted that high achievers tend to love what they are doing for the work itself. When they love the work itself, it's easy to spend more time on it and to continue to get better. I love this idea of focusing on and enjoying the process. In so many areas of life, making sure you love the process is probably going to help you achieve more and worry less about the outcome. If you want to write a novel, presumably you like writing. So focus on writing. Don't worry so much about whether your novel is going to get published or how many copies it will eventually sell. Well, you might want to stick within certain guidelines like the basic idea of genres or what makes a book marketable.

1:55Speaker 1:You want to focus primarily on on the writing itself. When you focus on what you are doing, what you enjoy, you will be happier and you will spend more time on the writing than if you focus on results, which are uncertain. Savor the process of getting your words on the page and making them better, perhaps with the help and feedback of people who do know the market and can help you produce something that you love and readers will love too. If you are training for a marathon, enjoy your training runs. Don't fixate on whether your time in a local marathon is going to qualify you for the Boston Marathon. Savor how good it feels to run long on a beautiful fall morning. Savor how good it feels to run faster than you could a few weeks ago. Now, that is not to say that outcomes don't matter. Obviously, they do. We need to make a living. We have things we want to do in life. And there are ways to be smart. about all of this. But when you focus primarily on process and make sure to choose a process you truly love, then the outcomes often take care of themselves. This is easy discipline. You are not

3:15Speaker 1:forcing yourself to do something unpleasant. I am always looking for ways to spend more of my time writing. It's truly what I love to do. And that makes it possible to write a lot. I would add that when you focus on the process, you are also focusing on something that is within your control. It is up to you whether you write 500 words today or do that eight-mile run in your marathon training plan or show up at the block party. You can count on getting the enjoyment of these activities and the satisfaction of doing what you intended to do. If you are hinging your satisfaction on whether a particular agent wants to represent you, or whether you beat last year's time in a race, or whether you meet a best friend at that block party, then satisfaction isn't guaranteed. So focus on the process. Keep your sights on what is within your control. And make sure to enjoy the experience along the way. When you do, often, The outcome will happen eventually. In the meantime, this is Laura.

4:33Speaker 1:Thanks for listening. And here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at laura at lauravandercam.com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeart Media. For more podcasts from iHeart Media, please visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.