F is for Forget self-improvement?

Lifehacker by way of Deliberatism.com posted an article about focusing on the small as a methodology for completing the large.  If you read the comments back and forth on the post (not lifehackers) you see quite a range of responses attacking the underlying dogma that you should enjoy the steps you are taking not just the outcome.  There is a focus on outcomes, and the accolades of having completed something (run a marathon, wrote a book, ect.) that undermines the joy in the small steps to get there.  A runner that actually enjoyed running (for themselves no other reward needed) and wanted to run a marathon as an extension of that.  A person that loved word play and used a novel as a vehicle for that.  Now enjoying the small doesn't mean that you might not suffer in these small steps, but rather you enjoyed the struggle as well as the outcome.

I realize this is a stretch for F, but this stupid thing has been in my drafts for longer than I like and I feel like there is some meat to this idea.  I'm not sure if there is a simple set of concrete steps for people to follow but it strongly reminds me of the sensation I walked away from when someone gave me a book about the 8 fold path.  I wish I could remember the name of the book, I sort of disregarded it at the time (I was a college kid handed a book by what I think was a Hare Krishna in an airport).  Any how I think the author's point was about right intention, and perusing things that will make you happy not impress others.