It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.

Ursula K. LeGuin

Most of us have heard the saying “Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans”.¹  The same can happen for goals.  Both short-term and long-term goals are good to help us focus our time and energy.  But be careful about having tunnel vision; it is also important to pay attention to what happens on the way to meeting a goal.  What we discover or learn on the journey might be even more important than what happens at the finish line.  Very interesting things might happen along the way.

¹First published account of this saying is attributed to Larry Saunders, a newspaper comic strip writer in 1957.  John Lennon’s lyrics in his song, “Darling Boy” (1980), contain similar wording:  “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
Photograph by Victor Camilo.  License.  Link to Flickr.