The only way to have something is by not wanting it!!

The post title is a sort of a conclusion and a 'oh yeah' moment that brought back to mind some other quotes I read earlier. Like the below quote from Mukesh Ambani. Oflate I often ask myself that question with respect to my Work.

Excerpt from Mukesh Ambani Interview: My father used to always tell me that if you start anything just to make money, then, in his own words, `you are a fool,' because you will not be good at anything else and also not make money.”

"Instead if you start with a purpose...you want to do what nobody else has done, then money is the byproduct but that byproduct should never be important," he said. "You should clearly know what you want to do, in what you want to be the best, and what you are passionate about. "If you keep dreaming again and again you will convert those dreams into passion. And if you are passionate about something that will define your purpose” he said

A little backstory is that when making decisions in business you need to have a framework to operate on with. Being bootstrapped with limited funds and trying different strategies for short term, medium term and long term can be quite confusing when it comes to prioritizing different activities.

Anyhow the conundrum in the title is that when we want something, our focus or obsession is to be on the principles (tools/techniques/systems/processes) that get us there. It can not be on the destination or the end goal. For example when making a decision, we need to think whether the decision is in synchrony with the principles that enable us to get to our destination. We can not think whether the decision will get us to our destination - We have to think if our decision is in line with our means to the destination aka principles. 

My decisions on a particular task have to be taken not by thinking if the decision will take me closer to my destination but by thinking if it will meet my principles. Its very difficult to reinvent the wheel at every decision.

Amazon Flywheel is another great example to the point. Jeff Bezos has said that whatever happens: Customers always want low prices, good selection and faster delivery. As long as we keep meeting them, we are bound to grow. So, he called these inputs and he said if your inputs are right, your outputs (Sales, profit etc) will eventually be right. So, the focus in Amazon is on inputs and never on outputs.

So, my point is just like inputs/outputs - Outputs is usually what we want but the way to Outputs is through inputs and not obsessing on Outputs.

Amen!