If you are going to be a goal setter or a person that consciously chooses the direction of your life rather than “Sleep Walking” your way through life, then it is very important to understand this principle: Success is not achieving a goal, it is the progress toward the goal that counts. You could say the definition of success is…

“Success is the progress toward a meaningful and worthwhile goal.”

I know that is a different way of thinking about achieving your goals, but if you don’t get this one principle, goals could cause you a lot of stress instead of success.

I like to use the illustration of a mountain climber to help you see this important principle. The mountain climber loves to climb mountains. They are challenged by the thought of starting at the base of a mountain, climbing up the side, and conquering the top. Mountain climbing is dangerous so planning is a must. Climbers will consider how long will it take? What kind of gear will be needed? Their careful planning gives confidence. Once the plan is in place they are ready to embark on the goal of reaching the top of the mountain. As the climber starts their journey, they look for the first handhold and the first toehold. They reach; they pull, and make some progress. They repeat the process, search for the next handhold, then the pull and the progress over and over until they have made measurable progress toward conquering the mountain. Somewhere along the way they look down to how far they have come, then a look up to see how far they still need to go. The emotion a climber feels is always… “Wow, look at my progress”, they never have the negative emotion of something like “Look at me I’m a failure because I have not made it to the top.” Because the climber understands success, they feel the commitment to continue the journey and a burning desire to conquer the top of the mountain.  The point that I am trying to make is don’t be stressed by the fact you have not achieved your goal yet, but be encouraged by how far you have come. Learn how to …

“Enjoy The Journey.”

Feel the emotion of success even when you are still on the side of the mountain. Success is not a destination. Success is enjoying the progress and the journey to the destination.

Mike Duke: President, Recruiting Practice Leader

Mike is a Certified Personnel Consultant and President of Professional Search for Career Development Partners.  Mike is a successful entrepreneur and people developer.

For over twenty years Mike has been bringing positive change to corporate leaders in the area of hiring, training, and developing people. He says, “You can boil any business down to three basic strategies: Products, Profits and People. Out of these, the people strategy is the most important. If you don’t hire the right people, none of the other strategies will work.”

Email: mike@cdpartnersinc.com