Go After the Outcome, Not Proxies
Building a flywheel of success for life and career
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’ — John 5:6
It was a simple question: Do you want to get well? But the man at the pool of Bethesda did not answer directly. Instead, he said he had no one to help him get into the water when it stirred. Somewhere along the way, he had confused the means with the end. Healing had become, for him, about getting into the pool — a proxy for the real goal.
When I first became a project manager, I was assigned a million-dollar project. I was inexperienced and nervous. I thought earning a PMP certification would help me handle it better. So I asked my department head if I should get certified. He simply told me, “If you deliver this project well, nobody will care whether you have a certification. If you don’t deliver, nobody will care either.” That conversation stayed with me. It taught me to focus on what really matters — doing the work well, not chasing labels.
It’s easy to slip into this trap. We think joining a gym means we will become healthy. Reading 50 books means we have grown wiser. Migrating to the cloud means we have fixed product problems. Holding a strategy retreat means we have a real strategy. But activity is not accomplishment. Proxies are not transformation.
The invalid at Bethesda needed healing, not a spot in the water. In the same way, we are called to pursue true outcomes, not just go through motions.
Stop mistaking the proxy for the prize. Focus fully on the real thing.
# Action Items
- Reflect prayerfully: List areas where you feel stuck or frustrated. Ask God to show you where you might be clinging to proxies instead of pursuing the real thing.
- Define the true goal: For each area, write a simple statement of what real success would look like — what true healing, growth, or breakthrough would mean.
- Take one bold step: Pick one area and act decisively toward the real goal this week — without getting distracted by certifications, processes, or surface activities.