In our daily lives, in our personal or professional projects, we often set a goal, or several goals. We set out to achieve a specific result, we plan to achieve the desired goal, but to what extent does the result to be obtained take precedence over everything else? It seems that what really matters is the goal, and everything revolves around it. So we can be persuaded by the illusion that the result is what should matter most.

Over 2000 years ago Aristotle in his Ethics tells us that preparing to win the Olympics is about more than winning or not winning. For Aristotle, giving the best of ourselves, doing our best and giving everything for the whole is what should matter, because fulfillment is not in reaching the desired goal, it is not in the goal but in the path itself. The walk towards the goal is the fulfillment.

Now, it is important to think about the "areté" (virtue), in the excellence when thinking about achieving a certain goal, and we must keep in mind that we will not get good results if we always try in the same way, it is important to try to understand everything we do when trying to achieve what we want. Because it is not a matter of repeating something just for the sake of it. Let's think again about the Olympics, imagine a specific sport, for example the shot put, it is true that you have to repeat the movement of the throw hundreds of times to perfect it and each time have a more optimal result, but what will make us grow as athletes in this discipline, is to understand every aspect of the technique, to know why I do what I do, because to understand each thing is to be aware of my actions and only then we will achieve excellence.

Now I ask you, have you ever considered that excellence is in the process and not in the final result?

Thank you for reading. 

@cesarandresdp