Michael Motta - How to be a Long Term Person in a Short Term World: Methods for Living an Ambitious, Authentic, Unapologetic Life

Contents

How to be a

Long Term Person

in a

Short Term World

Michael Julius Motta, Ph.D.

Whats a Short Term World?

short term |SHrt trm|

adjective

occurring in or relating to a relatively short period of time: it might be a wise short-term investment.

world |wrld|

noun

(usu. the world) the earth, together with all of its countries, peoples, and natural features: he was doing his bit to save the world.

Humans have always been short term thinkers and doers. And thats a good thing. If early humans hadnt asked questions like Wheres my next meal? or Where will I sleep tonight?, our species wouldnt have lasted very long. Early humans were short term people because they had no choice.

We, however, do have a choice. We neednt concern ourselves with day-to-day survival. Instead, we can concern ourselves with the year-to-year and the decade-to-decade.

Yet so few of us do. Almost everyone we know has aspirations they will accomplish someday, when I have more time.

A sad truth of the human condition: Most people die regretting things they thought about doing but never actually did.

Another sad truth: Each of us thinks we are the exception.

Why?

We were born into the world created by those early, short term humans. Path dependency set in, and weve been on that course ever since. Without realizing it, we were conditioned to neglect our long term interests for short term benefits.

Path dependency explains much of the world around us. It occurs when previous decisions, made in response to now-extinct problems, irrationally limit responses to existing problems. The term is primarily used by political scientists, historians, and economists to describe public policy and market decisions. I wont wade in that water here. In this book, Im interested exclusively in how path dependency in the world creates path dependency in our lives, and more importantly, how we can resist it.

Gravitational Pull

Society judges people not by their long term pursuit of highly-personal goals, but instead by their short term pursuit of goals more societally acceptable. The world expects us to be short term and is surprised when we arent. When we act long term, we get strange looks and a million other signals from society telling us were living life all wrong.

It feels comfortable to swim with the tide and walk the well-worn path. We see people we love and respect doing the same.

But somewhere deep insideIm sure youve heard ita voice says that were settling, chickening-out, wasting our precious, fleeting lives.

A small sampling of statements we hear, see, and say every day:

I called, but you didnt answer.

Did you see my Facebook post this morning?

I texted you an hour ago. You didnt reply, so I figured Id call to make sure everythings OK.

Why didnt you like my Facebook post yet?

In these pages, I argue that we must ignore these signals. A refusal to blindly conform to the short term worlds expectations is the best thing we can do for our long term happiness and self-fulfillment. This book is for those who want to break their dependency and forge their own path.

Whos a Long Term Person?

long term |lNG trm|

adjective

occurring over or relating to a long period of time: the long-term unemployed | the long-term effects of smoking.

person |prs()n|

noun (pl. people |ppl| or persons)

a human being regarded as an individual: the porter was the last person to see her | she is a person of astonishing energy.

A long term person (LTP) is someone who actively resists the gravitational pull of the short term world and takes strategic actions in pursuance of long term goals, and who does so consistently.

Of course, we cant leave the short term world behind, nor do we want to. Much of the short term world is fantastic. The ability to be spontaneous and live in the moment, these are some of the best parts of the human experience. As are silly hobbies, bad fiction, and the latest apps. Not to mention that life often requires us to be short term. We must put food on the table tonight, not a year from now.

Im arguing that its time to take the next step. It is time to recognize our ability (our gift) to pursue our long term interests alongside our obligations, without having to abstain from the short term worlds fruits.

Even if life leaves little room for long term actions, we can almost always make the little room a little bigger. If you add up todays room plus tomorrows, and the next days, and the next Eventually, youll accomplish something big. Really big.

Simple Math

Can you find 15 minutes a day? Yes, you can. If you cant, then youre not trying hard enough.

15 minutes/day = 5,475 minutes/year

5,475 minutes/year = 90 hours/year

90 hours/year = more than 2 full-time work weeks

Over five years, that is an entire season of work.

Over twenty years, that is an entire year.

What could you accomplish in a year?

Can you find more than 15 minutes a day? I bet you can. If youre willing to fight for it, I bet you can find an hour or even more.

Ill let you do the math this time.

Characteristics of an LTP

An LTP cultivates and develops three characteristics:

Discipline: Doing the long term work every day. Finding reasons, not excuses.

Grit: Maintaining a long term focus even when society demands conformity.

Selfawareness: Discipline and grit without self-awareness risks making us an LTP in the wrong direction. We must know ourselves and what we want from this world before we can go out and get it.

You might be thinking: Okay, Ill dedicate myself to each of these things. But first I have to

No. There will always be a short term thing you must do first. Always.

The bottom line is: Who we are in the short term is who we become in the long term. Unless we align our day-to-day, week-to-week actions with the month-to-month, year-to-year person we want to be, we will not become that person.

If you cant do it today, you wont be able to do it tomorrow, and if you cant do it tomorrow, you never will.

A long term person starts today.

A long term person starts now.

Read This Book

Patterning your life around others opinions is nothing more than slavery.

Lawana Blackwell

Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own.

Bruce Lee

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

Stephen King

This book might be a waste of time for you. Probably a bad thing to say from a marketing perspective, but its true. There are some people who instinctively live long term. Are you one of those people? If so, thats amazing, and I cant help you. In fact, Im envious of you.

For the rest of us, it isnt so easy.

Aside from the rare and fortunate described above, I imagine there are four other types of people reading this sentence:

• You make serious efforts to realize long term aspirations and are relatively productive. Still, you sense there is room for improvement.

• You use to-do lists and such to help balance obligations and pursuits. However, things slip through the cracks and/or something always gets in the way of your ability to think and act long term.

• You are totally new to the ideas in this book, but you feel an itch. You know you could be performing better.

• No itch to scratch. You stumbled upon this book.

Ive spent time in each of the above groups. One day, after stumbling around for years, I came across a blog that introduced me to the idea of personal productivity. I began managing my time and tasks with relative proficiency; finally organized my files, folders, and various random papers; and generally got my life in order.