You have a wide range of options for achieving your objectives. In any endeavour, you’ll likely have to put in a lot of effort. Here’s a thought experiment for you: Why do we always take the quickest route? To us, shortcuts in life are a badge of honour because we think we’re clever. As convenient as that may be when travelling by car, we all know there are no shortcuts in life. Everyday exercise and a healthy diet are required if you want a healthy body. In order to advance in your career, you must gain knowledge, establish contacts, and add value. Another question: Where are the shortcuts? “How about if we worked smarter?” You’ll still need to put in some effort. this for the first few years of my professional life. I scoured the internet for shortcuts and shortcuts to success.
I only contemplated the short-term consequences of my actions. As an example, here are a few:
• Is there a way I can earn more money this year?
• “What can I do this year to land a book deal?”
• I asked myself, “What can I do to bulk up this year?”
• Is there anything we can do this year to improve our company’s profits?
My attempts failed, as they always do. It was too focused on the here and now. This is the most difficult aspect of investing as well. For the first time, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos admitted to shareholders that the company would not be profitable this year. That isn’t all, either. We won’t be making money for a long time. In 1997, that was. In 2003, Amazon became profitable on a long-term basis. If you take a step back, five years may not seem like much. However, managing a company with rabid investors is no laughing matter. The pressure to become financially successful is never-ending. We all know how much people admire Jeff Bezos, the world’s most well-known and respected business leader. He had a long-term strategy. The ability to see the big picture in the context of your own life
Long-term thinking works on every level. Using this strategy does not necessitate being the head of a large corporation. The following is an example from my own life. When I first began writing books in 2015, one of my goals was to have one of my works published by a large publishing house like Penguin Random House or another. Nevertheless, rather than scouting for a publisher, I sat down and began writing. I wrote a new article every day. Self-publishing books were the next step. My work was discovered by more people. There was no end in sight to this for at least one full year. In the past year, Penguin Random House reached out to me after I had published 350 articles and seven books on my own. They were interested in publishing four of my books in India and South East Asia. All in all, there are 17 countries to choose from. Think Straight and Do It Today are now available in those regions. This year, two more will be published.
Obviously, there are no guarantees. However, if no publisher had ever contacted me, I would have been perfectly content. Long-term strategy requires total commitment. How to maintain a long-term perspective?
It’s a great strategy to plan for the future, but our culture doesn’t encourage it. In today’s fast-paced world, we seek immediate gratification in everything we do. When we start something new, we want everything to be perfect from the beginning. We want our romantic relationships to be perfect right away. We want our businesses to make a million dollars right away. We want our jobs to be promoted and paid more right away.
To win the long game, you don’t have to give up your current life in order to focus on the future. That’s a complete waste of one’s time. We all know that life happens in the here and now, and sacrificing the present for a better future would be irrational. All you have to do is change your mindset. In doing so, you’ll be able to better appreciate the present moment, as well as become more patient. That’s what this concept boils down to in the end. You want to take your time and enjoy the journey to your goals at the same time. This isn’t a new piece of wisdom. 2,000 years ago, the Stoics talked about this. You can also find similar concepts in Eastern philosophy, which dates back even further.
Stay focused on long-term goals, not short-term ones. Improve your abilities, create better products, and work on issues that you have some say in. It’s common for short-term goals to focus on things outside of your control, like money, status, and the approval of others. So instead of pursuing things that are out of your control, focus on the things that you can influence. Others will come to you in time. Small and large-scale implementations of this strategy are both effective and scalable. Amazon is a great example of this. Even though Amazon’s stock wasn’t all that appealing in the 1990s, the company is now one of the world’s most successful ones today. Moreover, it has the most growth potential of the so-called FANG stocks (Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Google).
This calls for you to go against the grain of who you normally are. As a result, the vast majority of people only think about the here and now. You’ll be better off in the long run if you can see the big picture and avoid the pressure to succeed now.
