It’s easy to forget the simple joy of doing something just for the experience. “Optimize your time, make strategic moves, ensure everything leads somewhere,” they say.  A promotion, a profit, a move – all outcomes for which you may strive. But what if some of the most meaningful things you can do in life aren’t about where they lead, but what they feel like while doing them?

Culturally, there tends to be a heavy emphasis on outcomes. You track steps, measure productivity, and turn hobbies into side hustles. Art must sell. Writing must be published. Learning a language must lead to fluency and usefulness. But this fixation on results can strip the joy from the process. It creates pressure, comparison, and often, disappointment.

Don’t get me wrong, outcome-oriented thinking isn’t always bad. In fact, it’s necessary in many areas of life. But when it becomes the only lens through which you view your actions, you lose something essential – being present and the joy of the experience.

Think about a time you got lost in something – painting, playing music, hiking, building something with your hands, or having a long, winding conversation with a friend. In those moments, the joy didn’t come from an end goal. It came from being fully immersed in the doing.

When you focus on experience over outcome:

• You take risks more freely. You’re not tied to “success,” so you’re more likely to try new things. Success often follows.
• You become more present. Without chasing results, you can enjoy the moment for what it is. And more special moments are made.
• You grow more authentically. True learning comes when you’re engaged, not when you’re chasing a benchmark. Growth will naturally happen.
• You redefine success. The experience itself becomes enough. Success can be redefined.

This mindset isn’t about lack of ambition. It’s about intentionality and choosing to value the richness of the journey even if there’s no clear payoff.

Cook a complicated meal that might turn out terrible. Learn to dance even if you’ll never perform. Start a blog no one may read. Travel without a checklist. Paint something just because you feel like it.

Let things be what they are. Not everything needs to be a means to an end.

One powerful way to reconnect with the experience is to deliberately let go of mastery. Try something you know you’re not “good at.” Let yourself be a beginner again. Doodle. Sing off-key. Write messy poems. These acts free you from perfection and remind you that participation itself is valuable and enjoyable.

Ironically, when you stop obsessing over outcomes, better outcomes often follow. Not because you chased them, but because you were so fully present in the process that growth happened organically. Creativity flows. Passion deepens. Skill develops. But even if none of that happens, it’s still worth it.

Life isn’t a series of checkboxes. It’s a collection of moments. And the ones you remember most aren’t always the ones that led somewhere. They’re the ones that made you feel alive while you were living them – enjoying the experience.

Each week we try to correlate these Blog Posts with our weekly newsletter.  In each you will also get a helpful Mindful Minute – this week, “Bubble Breathing.” If you haven’t yet, enter your first name, email and click “yes, please” in the black box within the main Blog Page of this website to have these drop into your inbox each week.

For additional tips on mindful living and topics like this, follow me @livinghealthyin5fields on social media.