The Tyranny Of Outcomes: Why Instagrammable Results Are Making Us Unkind To Ourselves & How To Break Free
· Free Press Journal
We have become an outcome-based society, where the end result matters most. In fact a bit worse, how photogenic and Instagrammable it is matters more than the result itself, leave alone the journey ! Small wonder, then, that in a world like this, we are constantly being unkind to ourselves, doubting our abilities and denying ourselves the best shot at success. We need a pattern interrupt to be able to disengage from this wheel of constant comparison, one that shift our perspective to the macro lens and appreciate life for what it truly is.
It is the journey that makes us better people and professionals, not the achievement of the end result. It’s not only the achievement that defines our pedigree, it’s our ability to persevere and stay the course. Let’s take the example of an exam, it’s not passing the exam which builds your knowledge, it’s the process of learning when preparing for the exam that really builds that muscle memory. Even the smartest teams or people can have a bad day, so we can’t let one bad result define who we are, be that work or personal life.
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A setback often leaves us questioning our very identity, whether it’s something personal like a breakup, or not being able to see something through at work. We dwell on how good it felt whilst the dream lasted and beat ourselves up, imagining that we just don’t have what it takes anymore. Life often has a way of giving you what you need, rather than what you think you want, and this is especially true if you’re on the spiritual path, and its only possible to appreciate this when we are not only invested in the outcome. As Shri Krishna says in Ch 6 v1 of the Bhagavad Gita, the true ascetic is one who’s unattached to the result and performs the prescribed duty, rather than turning a blind eye to it and neglecting it.
The Ocean doesn’t rue its loss of identity, when its waters evaporate and become clouds, for when it rains, the water will make its way back to the mighty ocean. In a similar vein, we hold in ourselves the potential to achieve everything we have, and more. One bad outcome doesn’t impact our potential, for what we’ve once done, we can do again, and this time with the hindsight of the mistakes to avoid and the gotchas to watch out for. The Journey is its own reward.