Andy Riise recently shared a video on LinkedIn of Nick Saban talking about "the process," and it stuck with me. "Trust the process" is a phrase we hear so often it can lose its meaning. But hearing it from the coach who made it famous reminded me why it works. For me, it landed as a mindset shift, one that brings greater peace of mind and more energy for the long-term vision and goals I care about most.
The Coach Who Didn't Talk About Winning
Nick Saban won seven national championships, yet the heart of his philosophy was that his players shouldn't focus on winning championships. He wanted them focused on the next rep, the next practice, the next play, doing each one as well as they possibly could, regardless of the scoreboard. The championships were never the focus. They were the result.
Smaller Chunks for a More Complex Life
The older I get, the more complex life becomes and the more responsibilities I carry. I used to think the answer was to keep everything in view at once. Instead, I carried a constant weight and struggled to give my full self to any one thing. I've learned that the more complex life gets, the more important it is to focus on small, bite-size chunks. That isn't shrinking the vision. It's making the vision livable.
Vision Is Life-Giving
This isn't an argument against big goals. Vision, goals, and pursuits are life-giving. They give a team excitement and purpose, a mountain to climb, and a challenge to overcome together. The vision is never the problem. The question is what you do with it.
Where We Get Lost
Between a big vision and a realized result, there are two places where individuals and teams most often get lost.
The first is the translation. Focusing on the role you play in realizing the vision, and what that means for today, is crucial. A firm can have an inspiring vision, but if each person never translates it into their own role and their own day, it stays on the wall. For a football player, "win a national championship" means little on a Tuesday in October, but "master your assignment on this play" means everything.
The second is the action: giving your best effort today, with your skills and gifts, pointed in the direction of the long-term vision and goals, whether they're your own or the firm's. I don't have to carry the whole vision myself. I just have to bring what I've been given, fully and faithfully, to the part that's mine today.
An Ancient Truth
None of this is new. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encouraged those who followed Him not to worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. That isn't a call to stop planning. It's an invitation to stop carrying tomorrow's weight today. Worry about the future drains the energy I could pour into the present, and letting it go leaves me with more to give toward the future, not less.
Personal, Family, and Professional
This applies to every part of life. Personally, the big goals are reached through today's small choices. With my family, they don't need me to have every plan figured out; they need me present, right now. Professionally, it means knowing the vision, understanding my role, and giving my best effort to today's piece of it.
Be Where Your Feet Are
That phrase sums it up for me. In the meeting, be in the meeting. At the dinner table, be at the dinner table. It's the same thing Saban asked of his players: play this play, not the last one or the next one.
So plan and strategize, because vision matters. Then break it into day-at-a-time segments, do your best with what you've been given, and the goals will take care of themselves.
That's what trusting the process means to me: faithful, focused effort, one day at a time.
Be where your feet are.
Watch the Nick Saban video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWIeQlEUa5Q