Don’t let the long term blind you | Blog post by Rob Crews
When you plan something, you have a particular frame of reference that defines (in your mind) what is possible, what you are capable of.
In reality, this frame of reference is going to be blind to many possibilities. You may think that it will take you 6 months to achieve something… but in practice you actually spend 2 months working on it and then find a shortcut that means you can finish the whole thing in less than 3.
Sometimes looking back 30 days can make you feel that progress has been slow, but looking back 2 years can make you feel that progress has been pretty quick. When you look back 30 days, you’re just seeing the grind; when you look back 2 years, you’re taking in all those leaps of progress.
So, does knowing this actually help? I think so. It helps me to avoid getting caught up in endless long-term planning and instead just allows me to ensure that I do the following:
- Make consistent progress — day in, day out
- Maintain a keen awareness of what I’m doing, ready to notice every opportunity that arises
Long-term planning can certainly be valuable, but it is blind to those big future leaps of progress. If your project(s) contain any kind of uncertainty, learning or exploration, those kind of leaps will always be possible — so don’t get too caught up in forecasting the long-term.
If you lose sight of the present, opportunities will pass you by.
Also published on Medium.