Steve Albini died at the beginning of the month. I didn't know him and wasn't aware of his work.
But Austin Kleon (Steal Like An Artist) posted about him in his weekly newsletter. And I went down a little rabbit hole finding out about Albini.
One thing that struck me was a quote from an interview. Albini stated that he didn't have goals.
He felt that they were counterproductive. When you were chasing a goal, you felt uneasy and stressed. And when you reached the goal, you were lost and aimless.
Instead, he focused on processes. Being consistent and true to himself.
"I want to do things in a certain way that I can be proud of that is sustainable and is fair and equitable to everybody that I interact with. If I can do that, then that's a success."
Steve Albini
I see his point.
If you get too tied to your goals, it can be stressful. And you might cut corners. Trying to justify sloppy or bad behaviour. Or you might give up on them and feel like a failure.
There's definitely a dark side to pursuing goals.
And Albini was right about focusing on his processes.
But I think it helps to start with a goal. It gives you a direction to head in.
Ideally, you set a goal and then figure out what processes can get you there. And then stop thinking about the goal.
Stick to your processes. Your system.
Make is something you can sustain.
It becomes part of who you are.
The goal isn't important. It's who you become on the way to reaching that goal.
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