avatarRené Junge

Summary

The article emphasizes that achieving a goal is not the end of a journey but the beginning of a continuous process necessary to maintain and build upon that success.

Abstract

The article "Your Victories Today Don’t Count Tomorrow" by René Junge reflects on the misconception that achieving a goal is a final destination. It argues that life is a series of processes rather than a set of endpoints. After reaching milestones such as writing a book, completing a marathon, or getting married, the real work begins. The feeling of invincibility and pride that comes with these achievements can be misleading, as they require ongoing effort to sustain. The article cautions that without continuous dedication, the initial success will deteriorate—books will be forgotten without marketing, physical endurance will wane without training, and relationships will falter without nurturing. Junge underscores that true satisfaction comes from understanding and committing to the ongoing nature of these processes, rather than viewing goals as one-time accomplishments.

Opinions

  • Goals are not end states but starting points for further effort and development.
  • The pride and happiness from achieving a goal are transient and can lead to complacency if not followed by sustained effort.
  • Life and achievements are processes that require constant attention and work to maintain and improve.
  • Forgetting that success is a continuous journey can result in losing what one has worked hard to achieve.
  • Achievements like writing, athletic performance, and relationships are dynamic and necessitate ongoing engagement to thrive.
  • The nature of life is such that systems left unattended tend towards disorder, emphasizing the need for active involvement in one's successes.
  • The realization that a goal may not be as relevant as initially thought can lead to a change in direction, which is a natural part of personal growth.
  • Understanding the process-oriented nature of life helps in selecting goals that align with one's true desires and the lifestyle one wishes to lead.

Your Victories Today Don’t Count Tomorrow.

There is no room for smugness when you have had a successful day or have won a great victory.

Photo by Louis Hansel @shotsoflouis on Unsplash

Have you finally written your book, have you run your first Marathon, or have you led your dream partner to the altar? Then I say congratulations. But I also say, “Look out!”

From now on, you have something to lose. All these events seem to be endings of a long journey. Your book is finished after months, maybe years of work. The finish line of the Marathon is the end of countless hours of training. The wedding is your reward for carrying your partner on your hands and making him or her happy and in love with you again and again.

At the end of such days, we feel invincible, and we are incredibly proud of ourselves. After so much effort, dedication, and after such a long time, we have finally achieved what we wanted.

And precisely at this moment we often make a crucial mistake. We really believe that we have reached a final state. We believe that this feeling of happiness will continue just because we have achieved this victory once.

But life and time do not freeze once we believe we have reached an end state.

Your book may be written, but no one has read it yet. The feeling of triumph will not last because you have to do marketing or find a publisher from now on. Suddenly you realize that you have not really reached an end goal. If anything, you have only taken the first step of a long journey.

You have managed the Marathon, but already from the next day on, you gradually lose the endurance you have trained so hard. What you have achieved will not last, unless you continue to train precisely as before.

Your partner is now wearing your ring, but the rest of your shared life begins the day after the wedding. Once you take your partner for granted, you will start to lose him or her.

Goals are deceptive because we believe that we are satisfied when we have achieved them. We consider achieved goals to be the end of the process and thus misunderstand the nature of life.

Our life is itself a process, and everything we do is also a process. No means that we initiate in our life ends in our lifetime.

When we invest work to create a state, we create artificial order in a system. If we leave a system unattended, the disorder within the system increases over time.

This is a complicated way of saying: If you don’t take care of it, it will go down the drain.

Your book will be forgotten if you do not care to market it, your body will lose the stamina it has gained if you stop exercising, and your marriage will fail if you stop treating your partner as attentively as you used to.

When this happens, there can be two reasons. Either it happens because the goal was not as relevant to you as you initially thought. Maybe you didn’t want to become a writer and only finished the book because you hate not finishing things you started. Perhaps you realized that running does not mean as much to you as you initially thought. It is also possible that you married your partner out of a sense of duty.

If that is the case, then it is okay. You have developed in one direction and now realize that you want to go in a different direction in the future.

But the second possibility is much more likely. You really wanted what you had achieved and would be devastated to lose it again. But, you lose it anyway because you have not understood the principle that today’s successes are worthless tomorrow.

Being a writer is not a goal but a process.

Being a marathon runner is not a goal but a process.

Being married is not a goal but a process.

The moment you think you’ve achieved a goal, you begin to lose it again. Only if you continue to do everything you have done to obtain it, you have a chance to reach further goals within this process.

If you do not write any more books, you are no longer a writer.

If you stop training for a marathon, you are no longer a marathon runner.

If you stop honoring and loving your partner, you will soon no longer be married.

So choose your goals wisely, because they’re not really goals. Goals determine the way you will live long after you have reached your goal.

René Junge a published author writing on ILLUMINATION.

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Read also:

Self Development
Goals
Mindset
Success
Progress
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