It's Not The Destination, It's the Journey

Recently, I was in Miami for work. I had an open day on the

Sunday and decided to get up early and drive down to Key West for the day. I’d never been to the Florida Keys and wanted to see them firsthand.

It’s about a 3-hour drive each way without traffic, so I spent a lot of time in the car that day. I got to Key West, wandered around for a while, stopped to see the closest point to Cuba (pictured), paid homage to Jimmy Buffett and Ernest Hemingway, and turned back toward Miami to return my rental car.

When I met up with my work colleagues and shared what I’d done that day, they expressed surprise that I’d driven all that way for such a short visit to Key West. I told them I’d enjoyed the drive, and that was one of the main reasons I’d done the trip.

The message? It's not the destination, it’s the journey. It’s a timeless adage, and it wonderfully encapsulates the essence of living a fulfilling and meaningful life, but it applies to our careers as well. All too often, we become obsessed with achieving goals and reaching milestones, and we need a reminder to appreciate the present moment and find joy in the process of striving toward our aspirations.

At its core, focusing on the journey itself challenges the notion that success is solely defined by reaching a particular endpoint or achieving a specific outcome. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of embracing the path along the way – the ups and downs, the challenges, and triumphs, the growth and self-discovery, and the relationships we build. More than the ends, it’s these factors that more so shape who we ultimately become.

Inherent in thinking this way is that life – and work – are unpredictable. Despite our best-laid plans and aspirations, we often encounter unexpected detours and obstacles along the way. We make mistakes. The boss we love leaves the company. We lose our jobs. Our companies are acquired or restructured. The economy takes a downturn. The list goes on and on. However, it’s how we navigate these twists and turns, how we adapt and grow in the face of adversity, that truly defines our character and shapes our identity.

Moreover, focusing too narrowly on the destination has the potential to blind us to the richness of the journey itself. It’s all too easy to become fixated on achieving certain goals or acquiring specific trophies, believing that they’ll bring us happiness and fulfillment. Yet, we often find that once we reach these milestones, the satisfaction we experience is temporary, and we quickly set our sights on the next target. I know I am often guilty of this, whether it’s looking to the next project, the next race, or the next summit.

When we learn to embrace the journey, we discover that true fulfillment is not in the attainment of accomplishments or rewards (the so-called extrinsic motivation) but in the process of pursuing our passions and dreams (the intrinsic motivation). Adopting a mindset centered on the journey allows us to cultivate gratitude for the present moment. Instead of constantly striving for some distant goal, we learn to find joy and fulfillment in the here and now.

Ultimately, focusing on the journey allows us to shift our perspective and adopt a more mindful and intentional way of working and living. By enjoying the moment, and by finding meaning and purpose in the process of pursuing our passions, we can cultivate a deeper sense of fulfillment and contentment that transcends the fleeting pursuit of external success. So as you navigate the winding roads of work and life – or that long drive to Key West – remember to soak up the experience, for it’s in the journey that we create who we are.

JR and the PathWise team

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Almost all of us embark on a job or career change at some point in our professional lives. But many of us jump headlong into a job search without taking time to reflect on what we want to do next or to prepare ourselves to put our best foot forward.

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Recent and Upcoming Podcasts

March 4, How To Get Along With Anyone (Even Difficult People), with Amy Gallo . Amy is a workplace expert who writes and speaks about gender, interpersonal dynamics, difficult conversations, feedback, and effective communication. She is the best-selling author of Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) and the Harvard Business Review Guide to Dealing with Conflict. We cover both and other topics in our discussion.

March 11, At the Center of the High-Tech Landscape, with Saf Yeboah-Amankwah . Saf is senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Intel Corporation . He leads Intel’s Corporate Strategy & Ventures Group, focused on driving growth-orientated strategies, including strategic partnerships, Intel Capital , equity investments and incubation initiatives. We talk about his current work and his expert views of the tech landscape.

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Career Themes of the Week

March 4 – Conducting An Interview. Much has been said and written on interviewing from the interviewee’s perspective. This week, we’ll focus on the interviewer, with tips and tricks for conducting high impact interviews that will increase your chances of finding the right candidate for the role.

March 11 – Change Management. As they say, the only constant in life is change. Learning how to cope with it and – more ideally, thrive through it – is the focus for this week. We’ll cover a range of strategies for doing just that and introduce you to thought leaders on the topic if you want to dive deeper.

March Book Summary

March 13 – The Making of a Manager, by Julie Zhuo. Julie draws on her experiences as a new manager after a sudden promotion at Facebook. Her book is packed with advice on how to navigate this pivotal career transition.

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