The goal and its process

In Zen philosophy, we are encouraged to focus more on the process needed to achieve a goal, rather than on the goal itself. Of course, goals are important - they give direction, - the point is that the process and the final product are not separated from each other - the process is part of the goal. Eckhart Tolle asks something along the lines: 'If in the end you achieve your goals, but you become depleted, was it worth it?'. That is why we are encouraged to take care of the process and live it joyfully - to avoid becoming victims of our achievements. 

I was thinking about how many of our goals - when looking at them holistically - can be seen as processes. Say I write a blog post. One could think that my goal is the final product: the post. But I do not write to have a product - at least not just because of that. As a creator, I have two processes in mind: my own writing process, and the reader's reading process. My actual objective - producing a blog post - is just a means for these two processes to happen. So the blog post is not the actual goal, but a major milestone in this continuous process. 

My process as a writer may feel disconnected from your process as a reader: I do not know yours; you do not know mine. We only have one thing in common: this blog post - the product. Maybe that is one of the reasons why we focus so much on products: these products establish the connection between our processes - between us. 

One process leads to another one, like ripples in water. It reminds me of Marcus Aurelius quote: 

"What we do now echoes in eternity." 

And what we do now is part of a process, not the goal, unless, of course, we turn the process into our goal.