If you were making a sandwich, you would do it in order. First a slice of bread, then the fillings and seasonings, then the other slice. It wouldn’t make sense to change the order. Even if you really liked mustard, you wouldn’t put it on the plate first.
When we are pursuing our goals, however, we see the steps we want to take and sometimes try to skip the steps that are less exciting. But stepping out of order is ultimately frustrating and futile.
Take your goals one at a time, and appreciate the process as you move forward. Otherwise you won’t.
James McIntyre investigates airplane crashes. “At an accident, you see where things ended, and then you look backward to see how they began.”
McIntyre, who grew up in poverty in the Bronx, trained to be a pilot in the Navy, went to college, and then had a career flying for the Navy and for commercial airlines.
He doesn’t like to think very often about his childhood or his bumpy ride out of poverty. “Growing up in Fort Apache, I couldn’t even imagine this life I’ve led. I had to live for the day because I didn’t see much in tomorrow. The Navy brought me out of there and paid for college, but before I could think about the future, I had years of service obligated to them. The key for me was to do what I was doing well and not worry about what would come later. I knew that if I had proper training, I would be in great shape for the rest of my life.”
Seven out of ten people who are satisfied with their careers express a strong sense of order—an appreciation for the different phases of a career and their progression to this point.
Elliott 1999