Why is it important to think long term about your big goals?

To make sure that we meet most of these goals.

Bill Gates once said,

“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”

What is wrong with thinking that we can do a lot in one year?

It puts a lot of pressure on us and takes the joy out of doing.

Don’t Make Growth Hard For Yourself

I am all for setting 10x goals.

But before that, it is important that you become the kind of person who achieves 10x goals. I wrote about it in becoming a 10x human.

Do you want to grow your business 10x this year?

Sure! Go for it if you have some past success and revenue to show.

Because 10x of zero is zero.

When starting from nothing, it makes sense to go to something first. Aiming to do six figures in six months for a brand new business is not wise.

$100k to $1million in one year is doable. You can do it with a bigger team, more calls, bigger customers, and higher price. In case of inbound, you can optimize your app or website and elevate your marketing. But be ok that you may not hit it and there will be some stress.

This approach, may not work in some cases, like when attempting to write a bestselling book.

Mark Manson NY Times Best Selling Author of “The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck said”,

Earlier on he participated in “write-a-thons”, writing as much as 8,000 words in a day. He had to scrap most of it. Later he realized that he did his best work in the first 1-2 hours. He decided to limit his daily writing to 2 hours. This way he wrote the book which has been among top 100 books in the world since it’s launch in 2016.

Understand that he was already an accomplished writer. Millions read his work before he attempted this book.

He or anyone else could not have rushed it.

Long Term Is The Only Way To Create Anything Lasting

Imagine you are a big picture thinker and an ace doer.  With your exemplary skills and established relationships, you are able to do $100,000 in 6 or 12 months. Fine I understand.

Even then you need a lot of luck and time to create the next Facebook (est. 2004), Stripe (est. 2011) or Flipkart (est. 2007).

Losing 30 or 100 pounds, creating a $100 million or 1 billion startup, or becoming one of the top experts is possible. You need to give it time.

Take long term view and plan. Keep the right balance between planning and action. 5% time to plan and rest to execute. Break everything into small chunks and then do sprints to pace yourself.

You see the idea is not to be lazy or question your potential.

It is to dream big, break your plans into quarterly milestones, and take consistent action. This is the way that your dreams become a reality.

Which of your dreams is worth working for the next 5 to 10 years?