Having just spent a good day and a half in transit (flying from the US West Coast to Europe with a stop-over in London) made me realize once again that life (and life as an entrepreneur) is all about the journey. As much as we aspire to get to the finishing line — reality is that we spent almost all our time on the journey which gets us there.
The entrepreneurial journey is a process which takes us from A to B. Once we reach B we move on to C. We take our learnings and move to D. Wash, rinse, repeat. All the way through the alphabet. It’s a seemingly never ending series of steps. We learn to walk before we run. We make mistakes and take a step backward for every two steps we make forward. Sometimes we return back to the beginning of our journey just to start all over again. Sometimes we leap. But it’s always a process. Always trying to get a bit further. Learning. Refining. And eventually getting it right.
Sometimes a goal, especially if it’s somewhat artificial (say: Get rich), will get in your way.
A friend of mine, who started his company around the same time I started my first venture, burned through two high-profile startups — just to find himself without the riches he set out to gain and in poor health. Only when he started to love the process — instead of the goal — was he able to not only truly love his work as an entrepreneur but also become successful.
Learn to love the process. You’ll spent almost all your time with it!