Focus on the Process

Imagine you’re an archer aiming at a bullseye…   You’re highly focused. Notch your arrow. Draw your bow. Close an eye. Aim... and… Shoot!

Now imagine the arrow moving in slow-motion towards the target.  The arrow is out there. In the air. Out of your control. And you can only wait and see if it hits the target or not.

Maybe it hits, maybe it misses.  An unexpected gust of wind could blow the arrow off course. A bird could fly directly in front of the arrow. Your bow could break in the moment you release the arrow. Or, more likely, you could simply miss the target for a lack of skills.

The so-called “dichotomy of control” is one of the central and most famous ideas of Stoicism, a philosophy from ancient Greece (300 BCE) that influenced Socrates and Epiticus. The Stoics used this metaphor to show that although your intentions and actions might be under your control, the ultimate outcome is down to fate – or external variables beyond your control.

As Epictetus said, “Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. Some things are up to us and some things are not up to us.” 

 

Focus on What You Can Control (Process not Outcome)

In the case of archery, you do the best you can do up to the moment of releasing the arrow, and take the outcome as it comes.  You can train hard and deliberately beforehand. You can choose the best bow and arrow. You can choose a good spot to shoot. You can choose the best moment to release the arrow. That’s all you can do.

Whether you hit the target or not, again, is not up to you. The outcome was never entirely under your control.

Basically, to be happy and successful in life, you focus on the process, not on the outcome. Your goal is to try your very best, that’s what you control.  If you lay your focus on the process, shooting well and trying your best is its own reward. It’s all you can do. And you succeed if you do your very best now in the present moment. Whether or not you hit the target in the very near future does not define your success.  It’s the way we go about things that matters, not how they will turn out.

The ultimate goal of life was agreed by all ancient schools of philosophy to be EUDAIMONIA.  This can be understood as living a supremely happy and flourishing life, a smoothly flowing life.  Their goal was to live by virtue. This consists of the ‘art of living,’ the way we go about doing things in the world, regardless of the outcome. Our actions should be rational and motivated by virtue – being patient, considerate, gentle, just, self-disciplined, calm, humble, courageous, and brave.

Basically, for the Stoics it is enough to try to do the right thing (process), regardless of the outcome.  And yet, the Stoics seek many of the same things in life as the majority of people, such as physical health and friendship. However, they do it in a detached manner. These things are preferred, but ultimately, do not matter.  Remember, we can only control the way we do things, but the results never lie within our control.  This idea of detachment is a core philosophy of Buddhism as well.

How Does This Relate To The Modern World

Remember the Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps?

He’s a big proponent of the process focus. Although he does not shoot arrows, he shoots through water like one. And Phelps lays his focus completely on the process, on his effort, and on how to prepare himself perfectly for swimming events. Sure, he likes to win, but he focuses on the process to get there.

Shortly before the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro he was asked in an interview:

“You’re a guy who likes closure, you like the chapter to end the way you envision it ending. So, suppose in Rio, you do really, really well, but in your last individual event, the 100m fly, you take a silver instead of a gold. Would that haunt you?”

Michael Phelps responded:

“No, because I know I could look back at how I prepared and I would know that I did, that Bob and I did, whatever we could do to prepare ourselves to be the best. So I think now, being prepared how we have, I’m willing to accept whatever results I get. I mean, sure, will I be ticked off? Probably. But I’ll know deep down inside that that was the best that I could do that day.”

3

That’s focus process 101. There is a preferred outcome (gold medal) but success does not rely on it. Success has already been achieved by all the effort that went into the preparation. Trying your best is enough.  By the way, Phelps won gold in all events, except for the 100m butterfly, where he coincidently came out second and took silver. 

Now, Phelps is not the only athlete who uses this process. In sports, as in business and in everyday life, many people focus on the process and are highly successful with this strategy. 

Here in Australia, the Australian Cricket Team coach Justin Langer said to Australia’s Number 1 Batsman at the time:  “Focus on the Process; the rest is just white noise”

This allowed Steve Smith to put the ball tampering incident behind him, ignore the boos and jeering of the cricket crowds, and just focus on what he was good at.

In his autobiography, Bryan Cranston (Walter White of the renowned Breaking Bad) described the lesson he learned that helped him go from an average actor to an extraordinary one. Here’s what he wrote:

“Early in my career, I was always hustling. Doing commercials, guest-starring, auditioning like crazy. I was making a decent living…but I felt I was stuck in junior varsity. I wondered if I had plateaued. Then, Breck Costin [his mentor] suggested I focus on process rather than outcome.

I wasn’t going to the audition to get anything: a job or money or validation. I wasn’t going to compete.

I was going to give something.  I wasn’t there to get a job. I was there to do a job. I was there to give a performance. If I attached to the outcome, I was setting myself up to expect, and thus to fail. My job was to be compelling. Take some chances. Enjoy the process.”

Cranston went on to say after he made this mindset shift, he felt much more relaxed and free. There was no longer any pressure, because the outcome was irrelevant. “Once I made the switch, I had power in any room I walked into,” he wrote. “Which meant I could relax. I was free.”

Soon after this shift, Cranston was offered a role in the wildly popular Malcolm in the Middle, for which he was nominated for 3 Emmy awards. He is now one of the most respected and well-known actors in the world.

So, why don’t you try to focus on the process in your life, too?  Take the Stoic archer to heart and focus on what you can control, and take the rest as it happens.

Pressure is Imagined - pressure isn’t real — it’s just the stress you put on yourself in your head. Pressure is the result of limitations we put on ourselves to produce outcomes we don’t control. When we focus on the outcome, we begin to expect things out of our control, which sets us up for failure.  You don’t need to pressure yourself to compete, to win, to come out on top, because the truth is, you don’t control the outcome. You don’t control anything — except yourself. The only parts you truly have control over are your attitude, your mindset, and your actions. The rest is out of your control.  If there’s one thing I encourage you to consider: pressure is imagined. You don’t control the outcome, so don’t even try. Instead, focus on what you can control: yourself, your attitude, and your actions.

“Ignore what other people are doing. Ignore what’s going on around you. There is no competition. There is no objective benchmark to hit. There is simply the best you can do — that’s all that matters.”