"You can either get WHERE you want to, or do things HOW you want to, but not both. That is, if you focus on one, you inevitably relinquish control over the other. To put it in a more positive way, you can choose to be uncomprimising on one of where/what, but then you have to be willing to be flexible on the remaining option. You can have either a fixed MEANS or a fixed END, but not both."

http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/language-is-like-a-video-game

Interesting. This rings true. If you have a fixed end, you have to be flexible with the method needed to get there.