Process Over Product

By Coach Mike

When I had the opportunity to walk on to the Rutgers University Varsity Swim Team, the coach said to me that I probably wouldn’t be able to compete in any of the away meets or championships. I said to him “that’s alright, I just want to swim” and swim I did. Every day I practiced with focus and attention, getting better little by little, without focusing on times, as I was slowest on the team by far. I was striving to simply master swimming. Due to this attitude I improved every meet, had so much fun, and worked extremely hard. Fast-forward to present day: some of the people I swim with at masters are much faster than me, and I started to beat myself up with thoughts of ‘I’m not working hard enough,’ or, ‘I’m so slow.’ Then a question crept in where I asked myself “how did I practice in college?” It all came down to the process. At college practices I didn’t strive to be faster, I strived to be better, and due to that dedication, the end product was improved times. Oh, and I got to swim at every away meet and our team’s championships! I started getting into that process mindset again, and now, slowly but surely, I’m getting faster and really enjoying the process of mastery. All it took was realizing what I was paying attention to, and letting go of the product to once again focus on the process.

What is process and product?

Let’s start with what product is. Simply put it is the end result. It is the grade you get on a test, the time you get from completing a race, the job you get or that piece of paper called a diploma when you graduate. We have developed a culture in America where we focus on the end product. I hear things like; what was your time? What grade did you get? I want to get this time. If I don’t get an A on this next test I’m a failure. We devote so much time focusing on the product, or result, that we forget to put time into the process that will give us the desired result. This is where most people get bogged down or give up; they don’t want to work through the process. Dreaming of the result is fun and exciting; focusing on the hard work and the process of getting that result can seem daunting, scary, or just plain boring.

Before we had our pocket super computers and convenient distractions, people spent a lot of time dwelling on their own thoughts. Time was spent in silence, contemplating self-improvement and self mastery. Growing up, our whole world revolves around process. Learning how to crawl, walk then run. We get on a bike, go a few feet, tip over, crash, get back up, and then do it all over again. Process is doing something to experience it and learn and possibly master over a period of time. The process is staying in the moment and doing one thing at a time and mastering each part. The process is practicing everything and paying attention. If you focus on the process the desired result seems to just happen.

We want everything now instead of just living in the now.

Today we live in a world “on demand” or as I like to call it the “microwave generation”. We expect things to be delivered fast. We can find out information about almost anything as quickly as we can get our phone out of our pocket. We get frustrated if our internet connection slows a little and if the network goes down we are completely lost, literally and figuratively. There are so many things that come easy to us that we are losing the ability to dedicate time and make sacrifices in order to achieve the great accomplishments of life. Taking time to work through the process and develop new habits has turned into drudgery that must be endured. Most people like the ideas of having the success but hate the idea of working for it over an extended period.

A paradox of life: The problem with patience and discipline is that it requires both of them to develop each of them.

In the book The Practicing Mind by Thomas M. Sterner, he states: ‘For most of our culture focusing on the process is frowned upon. When our mind is only on the finished product, not only do we feel frustrated in every second you haven’t met that goal but you experience anxiety in every mistake while practicing. We view each mistake as a barrier; something delaying you from experiencing the joy of reaching that goal will give you. When instead your goal is to focus on the process there are no mistakes or judging. You are just learning and doing. You are executing the activity, observing the outcome, and adjusting yourself and your practice energy to produce the desired result.’

Do everything right all the time.

Habits are learned so choose them wisely. What we practice will become a habit. This is very important because it underscores the values of being in control of our practicing minds. Our minds are going to practice behaviors whether or not we are aware of them, and whatever we practice is going to become habit. Being aware of this can work in our favor. If we understand how we form habits, and if we become aware of which habits we are forming, we can begin to free ourselves by intentionally creating the habits we want instead of becoming victims of the habits we unknowingly allow to become a part of our behavior. We can gain control of who we are and what we become in life by practicing everything.

At BLUE WAVE we take great pride in defying a culture of results and praise and teach the importance and joy of a process oriented culture. The more fun you make your process, the less you actually think about your end-goal and the better your product will be.