Too short

Have you ever had the experience of being very busy all day and at the end, wondering what the hell you’ve accomplished? Or doing the work being really focused for days/weeks/months or even years, and then stepping back at the end and realizing that you would have been better off spending your time elsewhere?

The latter is particularly poignant when decades have gone to waste by working hard in a career or environment that doesn’t really suit you. I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen retirees’ eyes reflect deep regret. These are all examples of what can happen when your goals are too short-term oriented. Sometimes being “too short-term oriented” can mean you’re jumping from one urgency to another, or spending weeks on a project without giving enough thought to how it fits in with your end goals.

But sometimes, it can be disguised as a seemingly well-thought-out business or career plan, as illustrated by retired executives who have deep regrets about their working lives. What was missing in that case was a bigger picture of what they wanted their life to be.

too long

Do you know someone who can’t figure out what they want to do with their life and never starts with anything? Or someone who just wants to focus on the big picture and long-term vision, never stopping to figure out the steps to get there and how to do it? Or someone who does the daily/weekly chores but you can really feel how they feel doing them?

Those are symptoms of too long-term orientation. These people are often accused of being “dreamers”, or in the last case, bitter dreamers. On which side of the short-long continuum do you usually live?

Just fine

Since almost everything in life is about striking the right balance, it’s no surprise that the answer is to have a long-term vision for your life and work, and keep it in mind when deciding on your short-term projects. and tasks. The trick is, how do you do that in real life?

The first step is to have a vision of life and that is not easy for many of us. To find it, you need to ask yourself what you value and have a sense of what you’re here to do (and in my experience, that’s always bigger than a specific career, but it’s often not about saving the world).

There are many books and workshops on the subject. In my case, I found that before my thoughts could get clear, I needed to process them with other people and my breakthrough happened when I found my life purpose with the help of a mentor.

Ironically, my purpose is to help others find theirs, which is now part of what I do.

However, finding your purpose is only the first step. Then you need to know how to reflect it in your work and in your life to earn money doing something meaningful to you, taking action while keeping your stress low and your joy level high. That’s where short-term goals come in.

So if you have a tendency to focus on immediate priorities, you can decide what short-term project or task to do that will help you fulfill your overall purpose. And if you tend to be on the “dreamy” end, you can plant your vision into a conscious, purpose-driven action plan. Then you won’t care as much about doing the short-term or mundane work, as it becomes much more meaningful, and you’ll have a much higher chance of success.

I’ll say it again, if you’re like most people, you can’t do this on your own. You need some structure and someone who can bring out your vision and has the business sense to help you make concrete plans.

Then maybe you are a better autodidact than me and reading books or material from the internet works for you. Just make sure you don’t let too much of your life slip away by trying it on your own before you realize it won’t work. You won’t get that time back.