FOR MOST of my adult life, success meant setting goals, meeting deadlines, building businesses, and providing for my family. Like many executives, I believed that discipline and hard work would eventually lead to a better life. Yet the older I grow, the more I ask myself: Are we truly living the life we worked so hard to create?
Some of my most meaningful lessons have not come from boardrooms or business meetings. They have come from walking the Camino de Santiago, the centuries-old Christian pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.
My Camino journey began because of clients who invited me to join them. What started as a professional connection became an extraordinary journey of faith and friendship. I am now undertaking my sixth Camino, having walked more than 1,200 kilometers across Spain, France, Italy, Germany, and Austria. On this pilgrimage, we will cover more than 200 kilometers by the time we finish.
But the distance is not what matters most.
I remember the people.
The clients who first invited me have become lifelong friends, my fellow Caminonans and, more importantly, brothers in faith. Over the years, we have shared prayers, laughter, exhaustion, meals, and conversations that would rarely happen in the ordinary rhythm of professional life. Walking together remarkably strips away titles and pretensions. Nobody cares about your corporate position or how much wealth you have accumulated. What matters is whether you keep walking, whether you help someone struggling along the way, and whether you can appreciate the person beside you.
Our conversations move beyond business. We talk about family, faith, disappointments, hopes, and the things that truly matter. Sometimes, the most meaningful moments require no conversation at all. A shared silence, a prayer, or simply knowing someone is beside you can be enough.
As I approach the completion of my sixth Camino, I see the journey differently. We are no longer walking to prove how strong we are or how much we can endure. We walk because we still can. We walk with gratitude for our health, our families, our faith, and the friendships that have endured through the years.
We walk because we are still here. And being here is already a gift.
The Camino has taught me that life cannot be measured solely by achievements. We know how to measure revenue, profits, investments, and professional milestones. But how do we measure a conversation with a child, a friendship that survives decades, or a friend who stays beside us when the road becomes difficult?
There is no balance sheet for these things. Yet they may be the true measures of a life well lived.
We spend so much time preparing for tomorrow that we sometimes forget to enjoy today. We postpone holidays, family dinners, reunions, and conversations, believing there will always be another opportunity. We work hard to provide for the people we love, yet sometimes our greatest gift to them is not another achievement or material possession, but our presence.
In a few days, when we complete this sixth journey, we will celebrate reaching our destination. There will be photographs, embraces, laughter, and prayers of thanksgiving. But I suspect the most meaningful part will be remembering who walked beside me. The Camino reminds me that we cannot take tomorrow for granted. We can, however, choose to appreciate the people who share our journey today.
You do not need to walk across Spain to discover your own Camino. It may be a quiet walk, a journey with old friends, a moment of prayer, or simply putting away your phone and giving your family your undivided attention.
Find the space to slow down. Call the friend. Share the meal. Say the words that should not remain unspoken.
After more than 1,200 kilometers across six Caminos, I have learned that the greatest reward is not reaching the destination. It is discovering what matters along the way.
Life is not waiting for us at the end of the road. Life is the road itself—and one of its greatest blessings is having people beside us as we walk it.
Buen Camino.
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Author’s Note: Prof. Enrique M. Soriano mentors current and aspiring directors through the Singapore Institute of Directors Board Readiness Program and advises family enterprises and boards across Asia on governance, succession, and stewardship./PN
