In a person's career, well, if you're process-oriented and not totally outcome-oriented, then you're more likely to be success. I often say 'pursue excellence, ignore success.' Success is a by-product of excellence.

Excellence first, success follows

Most of us reverse this formula without realizing it. We fixate on the promotion, the raise, the recognition—the outcome—then wonder why we feel empty when we get it, or burnt out trying to reach it. The insight here is almost backwards from what we're taught: obsessing over results actually makes them harder to achieve.

When you focus on process instead, something shifts. You start noticing whether you're actually doing good work, learning something real, or just grinding through tasks. You catch yourself cutting corners because you're chasing a deadline rather than a standard. That attention to how you work—the quality of your thinking, the care you bring, the skills you're actually building—that's what compounds. Excellence practiced consistently becomes the kind of work that naturally attracts opportunity. People want to work with someone who's genuinely good at what they do, not just someone who desperately wants a certain title.

The paradox is that letting go of the outcome obsession often gets you there faster. Not because you ignore goals, but because you stop the anxious scrambling that clouds judgment. You do better work. You stay longer in the game. And yes, success tends to follow—but as a side effect, not the main event. That distinction matters more than it sounds.