To What End?

Author: David McGrane

As you approach your work week, try to be mindful about what you do and why you do it. There is a lot of stress out there, and a lot of things to stress about, especially in our work lives.

However, many of those work-related issues don’t have to be a source of stress if we simply ask ourselves – “Why am I upset about this, what am I trying to achieve, what are my expectations, what is the reason I am doing this – to what end?”

Often we get caught up in doing something without thinking, and then equally find ourselves stressed, again, without really being mindful of what we are trying to get out of this, and/or what we are trying to achieve.

If your end goal is clear, and it is to complete something by a certain deadline, or contribute to a project where you share responsibilities, then chances are those goals are still valid, and still achievable, even if there is a bump in the road or a temporary roadblock.

Use those three little words – to what end? – anytime you get caught up in a whirlwind of stress or deadlines. If the end goal is clear, then alternate ways to achieve it might also be clear – less stressful ways.

If it’s always been done a certain way where you work, and that often leads to the same roadblocks, the same issues, then stopping to ask, “to what end?” may unearth completely different ways to do it, ways that avoid the all-too-common barriers. Anytime you hear “that’s just the way we’ve always done it” is always a great time to follow up with “to what end?”

You get the idea, question the ways things have been done, be curious about alternate, potentially better ways to do them. But mainly focus on the end goal, not the little bumps in the road that will always been encountered, even if you take a different road, it’s bound to have it’s own set of issues, but if there’s a way to reach your goal, and your goal is clear, then stress can be less of a factor. And less stress is something of an end goal in itself, isn’t it?