💡 The best companies (and smartest people) have long-term thinking and focus on long-term results. Dysfunctional, ineffective companies tend to frantically and chaotically focus only on short-term efforts, disregarding the medium and long-run.
Don’t Disregard the Short-Run, But Be Sure to Prioritize the Long-Run
Especially with the pandemic, I completely understand the need to be aware of short-run profits. I’m definitely not advocating for companies to disregard the short-run, as you need money coming in to continue operating.
✔️ At the same time, I would argue the companies that will emerge the most successful in the post-covid world are the ones who have the business maturity to maintain vision and be aware of where they’re going in the long-run (while they have their eyes on the short-run).
Businesspeople Are Often Addicted to the Short-Run
I’ve contracted, consulted, and worked for companies across multiple continents and I’ve seen it happen time and time again: leaders operate out of fear and only care about immediate results. I’ve told companies about the enormous value and power of strategic long-term initiatives.
They say, “That’s a great idea!” and make it seem like they’re going to implement long-term thinking. And then, you know what happens? They go right back to chaotic short-term actions. They often do this because they are addicted to the short-run and lack the discipline to be patient.
🤔 Sometimes I wonder why these companies pay me for this advice and then don’t listen to it. But it’s their choice. I can only show them the door to ultimate success – it’s up to each company to walk through it.
✈️ Constantly focusing on short-term results is like flying a plane close to the ground. You’ll still move forward but in a much more difficult and ineffective way. To get to long-run, Mountaintop-level thinking, you need to have the discipline and patience to allow your plane to climb to full altitude. On your way up there will be some turbulence, but in the end, the results will far exceed anything that would have occurred by always flying “close to the ground”.
Focusing on the Long-Term Works
😄 I’d like to point out something – and this is not to make it about me, but simply to show that I live my message. For the first six years of my blog, it got no traffic. I could have given up on the blog. But in the seventh year of the blog (this last year), blog posts are now ranking at the top of Google, and my website consistently has traffic coming to it. For six years I heard crickets, and now in the seventh year, thousands of people around the world are reading my blog posts.
I could have given up on the blog when it had no results in the short-run, but I stayed focused on the long game. This is how I got to full flying altitude.
➡️ I’d like to emphasize something because it’s so important: a lot of people in business will hear this and nod in agreement. But very, VERY few companies live it. I’m encouraging you here to actually live it, breaking that addiction to only focusing on the short-run.
The best, most effective authentic leaders are focused on the long-run. 💯
This doesn’t only apply to business, by the way. It also applies to health, relationships, side hustles, and all sorts of projects and activities in life.
Work Hard While Being Patient and Pacing Yourself
Be patient. Not seeing results right away doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. It simply means you’re not getting too caught up in passing trends, instead staying focused on your true north and Mountaintop.
Today’s culture is all about bright and shiny objects. The truth is that the people who win the biggest in life are often the ones who are least distracted by short-term rabbit holes.
I’m not saying to not work hard in the short-run. What I’m saying here is that when you shift your perspective and mindset to the long-run, you’ll actually get to an even higher Mountaintop and level of success.
I believe in you. You got this.
What are your biggest challenges with short-term vs. long-term thinking? I’d love to hear in the comments below.
Jeff Davis is an award-winning author, most recently publishing The Power of Authentic Leadership: Activating the 13 Keys to Achieving Prosperity Through Authenticity. He’s also an authentic leadership keynote speaker and success coach. Connect with him on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter. For three free books (The Power of Authentic Leadership, Reach Your Mountaintop, and Traveling Triumphs) in exchange for being added to his email list, email his Executive Assistant at meg@jeffdspeaks.com. Learn more about his story on his About page and feel free to check out his author page on Amazon.
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