Why the Productivity Journey is the Real Treasure
Why the gold is found in the journey and not at the end of it
In the 16th century, there lived a young shepherd named Santiago in Spain.
Life for a shepherd offered simple pleasures and security. Santiago owned flocks and was happy with the comfort of routine.
Wake up,
Take your flocks to graze,
Then to drink water, and
Get back home by nightfall.
However, Santiago faced one problem.
He kept having vivid recurring dreams about a treasure near the pyramids in Egypt, Africa.
“I need to do something about it,” Santiago thought to himself.
He decided to visit a Gypsy dream interpreter to learn about the dream, learning that he needed to leave his country to pursue it. Melchizedek, king of Salem, also encouraged Santiago to chase after his dream to find the treasure.
However, this initial decision would cost him two major things:
He would have to travel to an unknown land.
He would have to sell all his sheep (security) and embrace uncertainty.
At that moment, chasing his dream—getting the gold treasure—was all that mattered.
As the story is told, Santiago embraced his journey and sold all he had.
“When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the choice.” (Part One, p. 68)
This significant truth from Coelho immediately manifested as Santiago, stripped of his security, was forced into the unpredictable currents of a new land.
Arriving in Egypt, Santiago faced his first misfortune.
He was swindled of all his money by a thief and left penniless. Rather than letting regret consume him and abandoning his quest, Santiago decided to get a job.
“This job will help me get back the resources for my journey.” He mumbled to himself.
Luckily, he found a job at a struggling merchant’s store.
Rather than simply biding his time, Santiago immersed himself fully in the crystal merchant's store.
He found purpose and pride in improving the business, discovering that even a temporary detour could be a rich source of learning and innovation—a clear example of loving the process rather than just enduring it for a future reward.
Soon after, Santiago joined a caravan to the Sahara Desert to reach his final destination.
The journey through the desert, with all its discomforts and challenges, became a school in itself, leading him to his ultimate mentor, the Alchemist, and falling deeply in love with Fatima.
Through his interactions with the alchemist, Santiago learned to listen to his heart and confront his fears.
He unlocked more than the gold treasure he initially sought.
He unlocked his inner potential and achieved incredible transformation.
The Alchemist taught him a significant lesson:
that facing fears and loving deeply is the true alchemy of the soul and is more valuable than the treasure he sought.
The story is from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and helps us understand the theme for this week.
This story helps us explore why embracing and falling in love with the journey, rather than solely focusing on the end result, is paramount to a truly productive life.
An interesting paradox in life is that when we lack something, we can’t wait to get it. However, when we have it, we no longer have the zeal we initially had for it.
An example,
When you are starting out your career, you just can’t wait to earn your first salary.
You think, “I can’t wait until I have more freedom. I can’t wait until I don’t have to worry about bills anymore.”
Then you get the salary, and you lose your passion towards working hard as you have achieved your goal.
Everything soon becomes boring, and you start asking existential questions like, “What’s the point of all this?”
What is the core idea here?
This is precisely why our core idea is that we need to fall in love with the journey rather than the end result.
Like Santiago, we need to focus on the present moment and the next step.
He lost all his money and faced a setback. However, he used it as a stepping stone to get to his next level in life. He focused on transforming himself and learning more about his potential.
Rather than looking at what the final outcome of our work is, we need to redirect our efforts to how the work is transforming our lives.
Ask yourself, what skills am I learning?
What is work transforming me into?
What is this setback at the office trying to teach me?
If you are writing a book, instead of fixing your focus on the end goal—a published book—ask questions like
What skills am I learning about storytelling?
How is this practice transforming my discipline?
Sigmund Freud reminds us, “One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.”
This week, shift your perception.
While your destination will shape your journey, reframe it as a guide.
Do you want to earn 5K a month?
Focus on the transformation you need to achieve to earn that income. What investments do you need to make in your life?
By asking and answering such questions, your zeal to continue working hard is more likely to remain long after your goals have been achieved.
A wonderful poem, “Ithaka,” by C.P. Cavafy, captures this wonderfully.
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery. …
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all anyone's ever gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.Indeed, “don’t hurry the journey at all.”
Tools to Help You Love Your Productive Journey
To truly love and appreciate your journey, cultivating mindful productivity is key. Tools can help you understand how you're journeying, not just where you're going.
Leverage some of the best productivity tools on the market that help keep track of your time and illuminate your weaknesses.
In my case, I invested in Rize, a perfect tool that gives me an honest audit report of my workday.
My focused time.
My meetings.
My breaks.
My distractions (😬)
Rize provides invaluable insights into how you spend your time on the journey, allowing you to identify distractions and appreciate your focused efforts.
I learned that sometimes, I get distracted browsing, viewing social media, and seeking entertainment.
Perhaps it might reveal something you were unaware of in your workflow? Give it a try and embrace your journey. Get started here.
If you prefer to get the paid plan like myself, use the coupon FRANK to get 25% off.
It is one of a kind and truly works!
ClickUp is another tool that serves as my central command for navigating my personal and professional journeys.
I use it to structure my 9-5 tasks and personal projects.
For my 9-5 work, I list out everything I am expected to deliver to clients and meetings I need to attend.
For my personal projects, I use it to track my progress when learning a new skill.
For example, I am trying to learn how to create digital products and write on Medium to make $1000 monthly online.
ClickUp gives you so much more.
A connected brain—integrate different apps (Slack, Drive, Salesforce, GitHub, etc.) to streamline your workflows.
Think about the peace of mind you can get from having all your apps connected to one platform.
It is a remarkable app that helps you deliver projects on time, every time.
The beauty is that it is free to sign up and create a workspace.
Get started with your free workspace here.
That's it for now.
Watch out for next week’s productivity insights in your inbox.
As always, fresh ideas are welcome. Please feel free to send in your feedback, thoughts, questions, and suggestions—I read them all!
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Catch you again soon.
Lately I have been struggling with the idea that my work and projects are just means to an end and just mark that check mark that one project was done. Reading this reminded me that taking one project and breaking it down into mini goals should help appreciate what it is teaching, rather than what it is doing. Lots of great references in here and definitely something I will be reading to start my day.
Thank you!
Beautiful unpacking of The Alchemist—not as a mystical tale, but as a real framework for transformation. What struck me most is how setbacks weren’t detours, but the curriculum. Santiago didn’t get derailed—he got refined. That’s what most people miss: the journey isn’t a delay to the destination. It’s the only thing real. Whether it’s writing a book or launching a digital product, falling in love with the process is the only insurance against disillusionment. Because the goal won’t hold you—only the transformation will.