How Far Ahead Do You Think?

Imagine you are walking down the road in New York City and see a homeless person on the street. There is a large chance that his or her thoughts are about mainly about the near future, maybe towards the next hour.

Imagine that you carry on walking and see a hot-dog stand. Chances are that the hot-dog stand attendant’s thoughts are mostly tending towards what will happen today.

Imagine then walking into a shop. The chances are that the salesman’s thoughts are largely focused towards this week.

Imagine then meeting the owner of the shop. Their thoughts will mainly be focused towards the next month or so.

Imagine then going to the office of a large company. Imagine seeing a senior manager, the chances are that their thoughts will be focused towards the next year or so.

Finally, imagine meeting the CEO of that company, his or her thoughts will be focused towards the next decade and beyond.

Throughout history, all of the super-achievers have had one thing in common, they have always focused their thoughts decades ahead of where they want to be. Stalin, for example, used the 10-year plan to outline where he wanted Russia to be in a decade’s time. By ensuring that the whole of Russia elevated their thinking and focused on the long-term, Russia grew more in those 10 years than it had in any decade previously.

As we enter a new week, try to think on a long-term basis. Think about where you want to be in 10-years time and see what steps you need to take to get there. Shift your attention from the present to the future so that in stead of living in survival mode, you are creating your own destiny.