A result is the outcome of any action or set of actions.

A process is the set of steps you take in order to produce the result.

Sometimes it is better to focus on the process and sometimes it is better to focus on the result that you are seeking. Part of the skill of becoming successful is to strike the right balance between results focusing and process focusing.

Guiding Principle #1: If the process does not achieve the desired result then it is no value, no matter how clever or impressive that process is.

Often times people are so absorbed in the process that they forget the result that they were trying to achieve in the first place and thereby miss it altogether.

An example of this is the typical person and the job that they have.

Most people start working with the aim of providing adequate finances for a good life. Then, as time goes by, they become so tied up with the day to day process of working that they never spend the time doing what they need to do in order to become rich and get that good life.

Their actual result is that they wind up broke doing a job that they are not enjoying.

The way to avoid this is to focus on your desired result each and every day and then periodically reassess the process to ask if it is actually taking you toward the goal that it is supposed to be achieving.

Guiding Principle #2: The process is the means to achieving your desired result. No matter how results focused you are if you don't have an adequate process then you won't achieve your desired result.

The time to focus on the result is when you are designing the process and when you are assessing the outcomes that you are getting from the process.

While you are actually doing the process then it should be given 100% of your attention. In that way you will do the process as well as you possibly can and that will maximise the chance of you getting the result you want.

Guiding Principle #3: Remember that the main aim of any result and of any process should be to enhance your life and help you become all that you can be.

Sometimes people are focusing on the wrong result.

For example, you might set a goal to buy a new house without really thinking about whether or not that is the best goal, at this point of time, to enhance your life.

Life is meant to be enjoyed! The trick is to find out how and then to do it. This starts by making sure that you are setting the right goals and following the right processes to enhance your enjoyment of life.

For example, money should never be the goal. The goal should be the lifestyle that the money can bring you.

If you set a lifestyle goal then you will find a process that allows you to acquire the money you need and still enjoy your life along the way.

If you make money the target then you may end up doing something that makes your life a misery while you are accumulating that money.

The same is true of all results that you are chasing. Always ask how both the desired result, and the process you use to achieve that result, will affect the quality of your life.

Then focus on the actual result versus the desired result while assessing the process and 100% on the process while doing that process