The Grand Process
The crisp April wind whipped a stray strand of hair from my braid, momentarily obstructing my view. As I hooked it behind my ear, I heard the air brakes of a tour bus sound the warning that a swarm of tourists would soon be approaching. I let the sharp desert air fill my lungs as I took in the last peaceful moments of the most incredible thing I had ever seen. My perch on the overlook suddenly became crowded with fanny packs and foreigners as I continued to marvel at the phenomenon below.
I wish I could have witnessed the mile deep canyon forming, but it wasn’t one grand event, it was a process that started millions of years ago. A combination of tectonic plates shifting and lifting the Colorado Plateau 7,500 feet above sea level, the relentless Colorado River’s flow, and years of erosion that formed the Grand Canyon.
That day on the south rim of the Grand Canyon was almost 10 years ago. Studies show it gets 1 foot deeper roughly every 200 years, so its progress in the past decade is almost immeasurable. Do you think the Colorado River knew what it was creating? Or do you think it just stuck with the process of flowing every single day? Occasionally it gets help from flood waters, layers of soft rock, and high winds. But no matter the help erosion offers, it stays the course and keeps flowing. It didn’t know the magnitude of the canyon it was creating, that wasn’t the goal. Flowing, no matter the obstacles, was the goal.
With a birthday in December and New Years two weeks later it is a great time to perch myself on the south rim of my previous year and assess my progress. With age, I’ve learned to divide my goals into two different groups, outcome goals and process goals. I like to call goals that are out of my control, outcome goals, like winning big ropings. The things that I really want to happen but at the end of the day require a sprinkle of luck. The goals I can control are process goals, like being active, practicing, and working on my mental game. They require daily discipline and dedication.
Outcome goals are a byproduct of having the discipline to stick with our daily process goals, or habits. We need to set realistic and sustainable process goals. If they aren’t something you can commit to long term you are going to fail. What do you think would have happened if the Colorado River, first off could talk, and secondly would have said, “I’m just going to work hard at this for one year and see how much progress I make and then I’ll be done.” Or “I’m going to get 1 foot deeper every month or I am going to quit.” We wouldn’t have the Grand Canyon if that was its mindset. The process determines the outcome. There is no telling how beautiful that outcome will be after years of sticking with the process.
If my outcome goals never happen, like winning big events, that is okay. It doesn't sound okay right now and it wouldn’t feel okay in the moment, but no failure is grounds to reduce my self worth. That is putting too much validation in the outcome when I should be proud of how hard I worked to get myself in the proximity of achieving big things. Winning would be nice, but losing won’t make me stop, so it isn’t essential. If experience is the goal, you’ll never fail. Sometimes it is necessary to take a step back and get a different perspective to see how much progress has been made.
Think of the way the Grand Canyon was formed, daily persistence, not one big event. Every minute, every hour, every day for millions of years water has relentlessly worn stone away, creating something monumental. What can we learn from water? Stay the course and keep flowing, no matter the obstacles. Something absolutely spectacular will come from it.
