What’s Your Time Horizon?
March 22nd, 2005 by Steve Pavlina
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One factor that makes a big difference in how much control you have over your life is your time horizon. In the span of a day or a week, you have a fair amount of control over your life, but it’s certainly not 100%. In any given week, just about anything can happen, and your plans can be thrown completely off by factors outside your control. Even over the course of a year, your goals can be totally sidetracked. You can be hit with an unexpected health problem or suffer a major financial setback. I’ve certainly had at least one year where everything seemed to go askew and where getting back on track took months.
But in the long run, when you hit time horizons of 5, 10, or 20 years, your degree of control is closer to 100%. The short-term randomness tends to cancel out.
If you want to start a new business this week, your ability to accomplish that goal may not be anywhere near 100%. But if you want to start a new business within the next 5 years, no matter what your starting condition, you’re virtually 100% capable of making it happen if you choose to do so. There are very few setbacks that will nuke your ability to get moving in the direction of your goals for more than a year.
People often overestimate what they can reasonably achieve in a year. But they vastly underestimate what they can achieve in 5 years. In a five-year period you can go from sitting in the stands as a spectator to becoming an Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon. It’s been done. Think about what you can achieve between now and 2010 if you commit to it. You can lose any amount of weight and develop any kind of physique you want. You can start your own business and make it profitable. You can meet the mate of your dreams and start a family. You can relocate to anywhere in the world. You can learn to speak a new language fluently. You can write a book. You can become skilled at any musical instrument. You can learn to act or dance or speak or write.
If you’ve been complaining about not being able to get started on one of your major goals for a week or a month, you may be doing so for good reason. Perhaps you are indeed experiencing setbacks that have prevented you from getting started. But if you’ve been making excuses for more than a year, the responsbility for the delay is almost certainly yours alone.
You have an enormous degree of control and power when you think with a time horizon of 5 years. Don’t let that potential go to waste. Set a course now and get moving.
March 22nd, 2005 at 8:22 am
Well that’s thought-provoking.
Usually you think: Get things done! Do it now! Don’t procrastinate! Sometimes it can get stressful because you think to yourself at night, “The day is gone. I totally wasted it.” Naturally such thoughts can lead to a negative outlook on your own abilities.
What you’re saying here is that it happens. In the short term, things won’t always go right. That’s to be expected. In the long run, though, that’s up to you. Will a setback today prevent you from accomplishing your long term goals? Probably not. They’re just boulders to maneuver around while heading in the same direction.
When you think about it in that way, minor setbacks are minor again.
March 22nd, 2005 at 10:29 am
You might be interested in the work of Elliott Jacques.
Here’s an article briefly explaining his theories on time-span and intelligence.
http://www.roberttomasko.com/Downsizing.Ch6.html
March 22nd, 2005 at 11:18 am
You say that everything is possible and achievable.
So decide to learn to fly in next 10 years and then jump from the highest building to check that you succeded.
Or suggest somebody in North Korea to start a new private business (if you don’t know it - I’ll tell you that there is no such thing as private business in North Korea).
It is silly and dangerous to tell people that everybody can do anything.
March 22nd, 2005 at 12:19 pm
Not what I’m saying at all, TesTeq. You missed the point.
March 22nd, 2005 at 12:23 pm
Franny, you must have a funny definition of “briefly.”
March 22nd, 2005 at 1:00 pm
I whole-heartedly agree that one can do anything with the right time horizon. In addition, a wider time horizon allows us to run a marathon rather than a sprint, which allows us more time to enjoy the run.
By the way, TesTeq, I’ve decided to learn how to fly. I began lessons about a month ago and I’ll be finished in a couple more. Common sense rules here. As for the concept of a private business in North Korea…that same comment could have been said about Eastern Europe or the USSR (remember them?) some years back. But, look at the difference a wider time horizon makes even there. There is now private business where communism once dominated.
March 22nd, 2005 at 2:57 pm
Your article is really insightful and encouraging.
March 22nd, 2005 at 10:35 pm
I agree with Steve. Though I figured it out the hard way, not every day can be your best. There are times when I just cannot focus on things, but I’ve learnt not to beat myself up for that. Most of the self help articles/books talk about not procastinating, but they seem to overlook that fact that its quite natural for the human mind and body to have its own rhythm. Just like sleep and wake patterns, I’ve felt that having goals spread over a year gives me ample time to perform well.
March 23rd, 2005 at 6:40 am
Steve,
Longish, but you’ll absolutely love it:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20030101/25049.html
March 23rd, 2005 at 8:42 am
@Bert: you’re learning how to fly in what way?
I have to guess that you meant flying an airplane. I personally want to get into hang gliding, it looks really fun.