"There Is No FInish Line"

The American obsession with winning threatens to rob us of a massively important fact: getting to "done" is just as important as actually being done. 

One of our brightest and most insightful friends gave us the five words in our title, above. (Thanks JM.) Those words are amazingly important. Because when we focus on doing, and we stay in the moment, we not only increase the likelihood of performing our task more effectively, we achieve something else that's pretty important.

We're happier. 

It's fact. As reported in a study published in the journal Science, a big predictor of who's happy (and who's not) is how often peoples' minds wander, says study author Matthew Killingsworth, a doctoral candidate in psychology at Harvard University. "The more often they take themselves out of the present moment, the less happy they are."

(A cool additional fact: The researchers used a novel approach to get real-time snapshots of what the 2,250 study participants were thinking and how they felt throughout the day. They developed a free iPhone app that buzzed volunteers, whose average age was 34, several times a day asking them how they were feeling.)

So it's clear. Stay focused and you'll do a better job . . . and you'll do a better job of being happy. And try to start off your day with this in mind: Research also suggests that those who practice a little mindfulness in the morning have a better ability to stay focused throughout the day. 

Remembering to not focus on the end result will enable us to focus better on performing the task. Now, is the end result important? Yes; often vitally important. But the outcome is dictated by the effectiveness of performance. So focusing there—right there—seems like your best bet. Doesn't it.

Now, overlay the happiness benefit. And it doesn't just seem like your best bet. It's your only bet.

We here at Positively Writing are confirmed advocates in approaching every task in a positive way. And we're now just as clear about the importance of appreciating the value of simply performing that task. Our advice: make the "finish line" your second (or third or fourth . . ) priority. Make the moment your first.