Focus On The Process And Not The Outcome To Reduce Goal-Related Stress
Use the Stoic Archer metaphor to do your unattached best
1. It’s that time of year
Everyone seems to be goal-setting at the moment.
I want to do this too.
I want to be more organised when doing all the things.
I want to not choose to do all the things.
I want to find the right balance between my desire to do all the things, and my need for rest and recovery.
Alas, it’s not easy so it pays to look at things differently.
If you’re motivated by achievement, goal-setting is a no-brainer
You can see what achieving the goal gives you.
You can see what the goal will feel like.
You can see the opportunities open to you when you’ve sorted the goal.
But this expectation drives stress, procrastination and anxiety.
If you want to achieve more in 2024, what can you do to move past this?
The Stoic Archer approach will help.
2. The Stoics were onto something
Back in July, I attended a talk by Tim LeBron, Modern Stoicism researcher, CBT Therapist and author of 3 books.
The talk was titled ‘How to be Happy’.
Tim presented some key points from Modern Stoicism and it’s benefits in treating anxiety, stress and wellbeing.
He described happiness as the sensation of feeling, being and doing good, and feeling, being and doing better.
Stoicism originated in ancient Greece and became popular in Rome as a philosophy for living the good life, and in harmony with nature.
Some famous Stoics include Epictetus, Seneca, and the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius1.
Much of the Stoic’s teachings resurfaced decades ago to influence current Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) approaches.
One key pillar relates to detaching from a particular event and it’s impact on you (positive or negative).
Instead, you consider your judgement of that event, and what is within your direct control or not.
This helps because you change your attitude as unattached to the outcome, and instead focused on what you can do and maximise your preparation for action.
Essentially, as long as you did your best, you still achieved something meaningful.
It’s the old adage of ‘it’s about the journey and not the destination’.
Realistically, you can only control what you did.
Your actions.
Your decisions.
Your judgements.
The Stoic Archer metaphor helps us focus on the quality of our actions, not their success.
3. The Stoic Archer metaphor
Neel Burton M.D. on Psychology Today2 shares that:
The metaphor encapsulates the essence of Stoic action. The archer does everything he can to shoot accurately: his bow is well strung, his arrows are carefully calibrated, and he has taken full account of the prevailing wind and other variables.
How does this reduce stress related to goal-setting and goal-achievement?
Taking the Stoic Archer approach, you’d focus on the actions you need to take, preparing well and executing them to the best of your ability.
As soon as the action is taken - the arrow is set free from the bow - it’s out of your control.
Fretting about this part of the process leads to despair and frustration.
You can get into overthinking loops.
You can get into perfectionist behaviours.
You can start unhealthy checking behaviours on the outcomes.
This reduces action-taking and offers less evidence for your brain that you can take meaningful action.
Seneca summarises this nicely: as long as we have done our best, like the Stoic Archer, the outcome is no reflection on us.
4. Conclusion
Whilst you’re contemplating your goals for 2024 and getting excited about what will change, consider how you feel about the outcomes.
Are you feeling nervous about them which distracts you?
Are you excited and super motivated?
Or are you neutral about them?
I’d suggest you move to neutrality for the outcomes, and focus more on the actions you’ll take to achieve them.
Plan the actions.
Revel in the best way you can do them with the resources you have available.
Decide when you’ll execute them.
And then, let them fly.
Let me know what you're keen to learn or talk about in the comments or on chat.
This is your space too, so let's enjoy it together.
Take care,
Sabrina Ahmed
Burnout Coach | Neuroscientist | Art-based Practitioner
Thanks Sabrina
Love the Stoic Archer analogy!
Prep well, action, let go because it's out of our control.
So much less stress if we only focus on what we can control I.e. ourselves.