What is More Important: The Journey or the Destination?

If you don’t love what you do, why are you doing it?

I have this family member I would see a couple of times a year. Every time we caught up I would here a litany of how hard things were. Particularly with her career. It would go something like this; “Work has been so hard; I have these terrible projects I have been given. Which keep me on the road. I am not really enjoying the work and the team is frustrating to work with and our budgets have been cut which makes us shorthanded. But this is the path to be partner.”

I think to myself. Why are you in this career path, it sounds awful. There are many different paths to get to your career summit. What is your reasoning for taking the most bruising path?

Working with clients I have used the analogy of being on a trip to a mountain summit. We have a vision of the summit before we start and set a path to get there. The higher and more challenging the peak, the more complex the plan. Once we start, our path is influenced by forces out of our control; weather, nature, and our capability to adapt. At times we lose sight of the summit. As we get closer our view of the summit changes. Sometimes it gets clearer and often we see it from multiple perspectives. Our experiences also inform our path forward.

I have worked with clients fixated on one specific goal and the solitary path to get there. Their focus; how to overcome every obstacle on their path.

I have also worked with individuals focused on reaching a summit by finding the right path for them. The path is modified based on the forces encountered and perspectives gained along the route. Often the destination changes.

The reality is the vision of our career summit, is just that; a vision. It is an image created through a compilation of descriptions and perspectives from research and opinions of others. We do not know the reality of the path or destination until we start the journey.

Think about your career. When you entered college did you have a vision of where you were going and the path to get there? Were you focused on one destination and path or did you have a general vision and a willingness to explore options along the way.

You can think of this as a spectrum. One end a clear destination with one path and the other a fuzzy destination with a general direction.

My plan was to be a top student majoring in aerospace engineering, playing varsity football, and after graduation selected to fly jets in the Marine Corps for a career. Reality; I majored in graduation, did not play football, and did fly in jets in the Marine Corps as an aircrew not as a pilot for a career. Sometimes circumstances act on us and we are forced to modify our path and our destination.

My original vision set me on well-defined path. Circumstances and my ability to progress through the required milestones continued to define my path. At points along the way my perspective changed and I altered my vision.

For me the most important lesson was not in reaching the summit but the journey.

Ultimately, I learned the journey to my current summit shaped my vision for what was next. My career turned into a series of summits. Achieving a destination was not an ultimate defining moment. Each destination was a milestone to what was next. That milestone provided perspective on the distance traveled and my new direction.

The journey allowed me to love what I was doing.

Where are you on the journey/destination spectrum? I have worked with individuals across the spectrum. I have seen individuals chase a dream, only be unfulfilled on attaining the goal. I have also seen others bounce around in their careers as they were unable to focus on a reasonable vision without being distracted.

The importance lies in understanding the right mix of journey and destination that allows you to love what you do.

Chasing a goal with intensity may have you arrive at your destination exhausted and asking yourself, “Now what?”.

The most dangerous part of the journey for those who climb Mount Everest is the trip down the mountain. The goal is to summit and return to base camp so you can continue your adventure.

Love the journey to each destination and the time you spend there.