When I was studying at the University of Michigan School of Music, I came to a realization about how I spent my time. As a musician, you spend countless hours alone in a little room refining your technique, learning new pieces of music, and trying to commune with dead composers. You do all this so sometime later you can get up on stage and give a performance.

When it’s all said and done, 99% of your time is spent preparing. If you’re a musician because you like being on stage, you like performing, you like moving the audience, then you’re doing it for the wrong reason. It doesn’t seem like much of a fair trade to devote so much time just for that 1% moment of enjoying what you do.

I figured this out in music school, but it isn’t specific to music. The same is true of being an animator, an athlete, or whatever it is you choose to do. Animation takes such a long time, it would be insane to do it only for that feeling of accomplishment at the end of the project. Sure I was miserable for weeks, but my 6 seconds of animation is awesome!

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’ -Muhammad Ali

Athletes often use future glory as a motivator for the pain of training and I can totally understand where they’re coming from. The training is hard and it’s helpful to have a measurable goal at the end. But I would rather enjoy the process of becoming a champion than holding out hope that you’ll get there, one day, maybe. And if you do get there, how long will the joy of that win really last? For example, I was on a championship basketball team but nobody, including me, really cares about what I did in the fifth grade.
Results

Engage in combat fully determined to die and you will be alive; wish to survive battle and you will surely meet death. When you leave the house determined not to see it again you will come home safely; when you have any thoughts of returning home you will not return.” -Uesugi Kenshin 上杉 謙信 (Samurai of the Sengoku Period)

Now, that isn’t to say that results don’t matter and you shouldn’t set goals for yourself. But rather once a goal is identified, you set yourself on the path to that goal yet ignore it. Samurai were known as swordsman but they were also archers. In Japanese Archery, Kyudo 弓道, the emphasis is not placed on the target. Instead, the practitioner’s attention is focused inward. He’s seeking that perfect draw and natural release. The result is perfection of the spirit, the technique, and a struck target.

Samurai are famous as among the greatest warriors the world has ever known. Part of the reason for their success in battle was their mindset. They entered combat accepting they were going to die. Freed from the concern of their own survival, they performed at the highest possible level of their abilities. This would be like a team about to play in a championship game accepting the other team is going to win. But a team like that, a team that plays with nothing to lose, can become the better team because they’re not thinking about the win. They’re just thinking about the game.

So whatever you do, make sure you enjoy doing the work. Enjoy that feeling of seeing tiny incremental improvements over the course of hours in the gym, or in the practice room, or at your animation desk. The accomplishment isn’t what comes at the end; it’s everything you did to get there.