Yesterday I discussed the power of focusing on the immediate next step.
Knowing the long-term goal also carries significant power.
Can you answer the following questions looking 5 years out:
– Where will you be geographically?
– What will you be doing on a daily basis?
– How much money are you making?
– What is the state of your health and fitness?
– Who do you spend the majority of your time with?
There are two answers to each of these questions.
1. Default future.
This is what is most likely to happen if nothing changes.
2. Envisioned future.
This is what can happen if you take the correct actions.
I recommend you write out both your default future and your envisioned future.
This provides a clear picture for you and creates incongruency between where you will end up if you continue on your current path and where you want to end up.
Once you know where you’re going you can work backward to determine the daily, weekly, and monthly actions and benchmarks to get you there.
Do a yearly review of your default and envisioned futures to ensure things are going the way you want them to go.
In between your reviews focus intently on the daily actions that will ultimately make the envisioned future your default future.
Long-term thinking provides direction and helps you map a path to your goals.
Short-term thinking helps you work your way along the mapped out path.
Brett “Life Cartographer” Denton