The Path is the Goal

Playing infinite game in a finite world.

NOTE TO THE READER: This article is not an attempt to change you or refute your way of life. The goal of this article is to share what wisdom I’ve found in the pursuit of the same ol’ success and habit formation in my own little lived life. I remain a stern believer that people should decide for themselves the philosophy of life that works for them – no truth is definite, and no version of god supreme.

I first started reading books in 2009. It started as a way to improve my vocabulary in school to get familiar with new ideas and a grander world in college (Rich Dad Poor Dad, Zero to One, The Lean Startup, Lee Iacocca etc). I used to read a lot and I used to read them to completion – even at the cost of great boredom. This affair with books came to a halt around 2015, my second year of college when I started working on my first startup – Dystanc (shout-out to Bhagat and Jasmine, my lovely co-founders from that time). Because I was always working towards a goal – making a damn website live, or learning that framework, or launching this website; I had no time to read books and I have never been able to take up any new hobby since then.

Don’t get me wrong, I started reading in between, with an aim of reading 12 books in a year – could not complete even the first book. I started writing blogs, with the goal of writing 1 each month – could never muster another one. I indulged in a lot of creative ventures but could never bring anything to closure or sustain it for a longer time. All goals were set in a moment of realisation, 60 seconds of motivation and ended the way they started. Forming habits in my 20s was seeming to be a hassle until I saw this beautiful poetry on Netflix.

Chef’s Table: Pizza happens to be one of the most beautifully crafted and multifaceted shows that I’ve watched in my recent memory. It’s up there with Everything Everywhere All at Once, and TheWhale in terms of story-telling. In this show, there’s an episode dedicated to Yoshihiro Imai, a pizza chef based in Kyoto Japan whose zen-like search for meaning ended with Pizza-making. He found the purpose of his life to be the path of making pizza through which he could “give people the experience of wind blowing in their hearts” – something he felt while first eating a pizza.

In an instant, I could understand the truth of it. For him, pizza-making isn’t merely a job of putting food on the table but an endless path to sharing with others what he once felt about food. For him, the act of excellence is not a “goal” but a “path”.

You will not read 12 books a year by deciding to read 12 books a year.
You will not get a 6-pack of abs by deciding to go to the gym 5 times a week.
You will not wake up at 7 AM by deciding to from Day-1 wake up at 7 AM.

You can however start by reading 30 mins a day. You can go to the gym every day 5 times a week. And you can create and structure your day in such a manner that lets you sleep by 11 PM.

If you couldn’t do any of these, it’s okay. It was only 1 day in the infinite days that lie ahead of you. You are not focused on results but a habit. Try the next day, and the one next to it, and then again – until it becomes second nature to you.

The intent of reading is not to finish a book but to read and gain wisdom. The idea is not to finish a book (asap) but to cultivate the habit of reading. To get out of the loop of instant gratification and calm your mind to expansive wisdom that seeps your mind slowly and deeply.

The intent of going to the gym is not to get a great body but to stretch and flex your muscles and remain healthy. Add fresh oxygen to your tissues so that they can sustain your lifestyle longer.

And waking at 7 AM every day doesn’t entail anything if there’s nothing you’re looking forward to filling that day with. Lack of a purpose should not be a blocker for a lack of plan. Even without a life-changing contribution to society, one can live a fulfilled life of personal growth. All life is sacred, we pay our respect to sacred things by taking care of them.

We focus so much on the end goal and the distance from it that it blinds us to the incredible value of compounding over time.

All the returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest.
@naval

The intent is not to reach a goal but to follow a path. Ideally, to fall in love with the process but realistically to discipline yourself on the path to incremental growth.

In time all goals change, and your perspective changes but the art of discipline remains that becomes a framework for attempting the unknowns in life.

• 2024 3
• 2023 5