Focusing on the long term

When focusing on the long term, everybody sees themselves in a better position than where they are today. Whether it is being financially stable, professionally successful, educationally qualified, or improving the overall quality of your life, all of us have one or the other destination that we aim to reach. 

Now, in order to start your journey and ensure that you sail smoothly, you need to align your mindset accordingly as it can radically improve the quality of your journey.

This is how you can get going:

Plan

Before embarking on your expedition, the primary thing to do is to make your itinerary and lay down the roadmap.

Planning your way towards your goal will help you organize and structure it well. It will put things in your perspective and assist you in accumulating the necessary resources on your path, whether they are strategies of saving, investing, or networking. 

Creating a paradigm ensures that you do not miss out on anything crucial. Moreover, life is unpredictable. Having a purpose and a plan will center your mindset around it and facilitate better decision-making. 

Planning will help you visualize your future and instill the passion to fulfill your objectives by helping you stay focused on the long-term goal. And as we know it, failing to plan is basically planning to fail.

Prioritize

Once you create a roadmap, the next step is to decide which milestone you want to reach first and what would be the subsequent tipping points.

Prioritizing your activities and taking organized steps will steer you in the right direction. This will provide efficiency to your venture. You will know where to utilize your money and energy in the long run and restrict any needless expenditure. 

This will also ensure that you are not compromising on the quality of your work and check off significant things first. It can make you more responsible fiscally and help you balance different goals pertaining to work, family, or social life. Your actions and goals will, therefore, be aligned.

Keep yourself motivated and incentivized

Motivation will add fuel to your vehicle. Keep reminding yourself of your sense of purpose, celebrate your small achievements, be in the right company, and surround yourself with people who are motivated and who can motivate you. 

Draw inspiration from people you can look up to. It will help you not to lose track of your long-term goal. However, if something does not motivate you at all, maybe you need to reconsider your goal. Don’t compromise with the quality of your life but also don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone.

Don’t procrastinate

The later you’ll start your journey, the longer it will take for you to reach. If you are well-equipped to accomplish something now, then there is no point in delaying it. There can be several factors that may change the course of your journey and they may make it unsuitable for you to proceed. 

Stacking tasks up will only make it more strenuous for you in the future and can be a major cause to lose motivation ahead. Hence, do a favor to your future self and start right away!

Be flexible

Don’t be so focused on reaching the destination that you forget to enjoy the journey. Take halts and change routes if you wish to and if you think it is prudent. Plan but don’t refuse to deviate if the situation demands in order to focus on the long-term. 

Being uptight and making rigid plans can find you in a stalemate. Always be prepared to handle change and improvise as the situation demands. Moreover, don’t forget to dance to the tunes of uncertainty!

Be prepared to face rejection

Had Oprah Winfrey discontinued her profession after being told that she was unfit for TV or had Colonel Sanders given up after his recipe was rejected 1009 times before KFC became a hit, the world would have been missing out on a lot of things. 

Both of them and several others persevered after falling down numerous times and look at them now!

It is a virtue to take constructive criticism and rejection in a good way. This will not only help you develop a thick skin in the long term but will also provide opportunities for improvement.

There can be many reasons for rejection and it’s not always about you. Hence, don’t dwell on them, but also, don’t let them go to waste. Learn from them and grow through them.

‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling succinctly conveys the same:

 If you can make one heap of all your winnings

   And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

   And never breathe a word about your loss

Conclusion

Thinking strategically can go a long way in securing the future you intend to have. While focusing on and planning for the ultra-long term is a wise decision, don’t forget to take a breather. Make sure to take care of your physical and mental well-being. Bon voyage!

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Frequently asked questions

1. How to improve long-term focus?

• In order to focus on the long-term, first and foremost, objectives need to be clearly delineated. These will help maintain discipline and stay on the course. It will be a constant reminder of your goals and will be a driving force to get to the action.

2. How do you stick to a long-term goal?

• Sticking to your goals requires perseverance and discipline. Long-term objectives can be broken down into short-term goals, where reaching each milestone would be an achievement and a motivation to strive further. 

3. Why is focusing on long-term goals important?

• Our long-term goals essentially mold the direction of our lives. They can either be a career option or simply a certain financial standing that we wish to achieve. They give rise to the smaller goals and tasks that we work on in our daily lives and keep us driven. 

4. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?

• There is no single straight formula to do this. Apart from planning specifically and scheduling efficiently, you may develop a reward system for yourself that can incentivize you to keep working and stay on track. 

5. What characteristics should a long-term goal have?

• Long-term goals should ideally be quantifiable. If they are left vague, then it may become difficult to devise a plan to achieve the same. Therefore, they must be measurable and specific.