Operate on a 10 Year Timeframe

May 07, 2020 5:45 pm

Be willing to make a very long-term commitment to what you’re doing...In a world of compounding advantages where most people are operating on a 3 year timeframe and you’re operating on a 10 year timeframe, you’ll have a very large edge.


→ Sam Altman, Hard Startups


[[]----[]]


When we put our goalposts far out in the future, something interesting happens.


It forces us to shift our focus from the tangible markers of accomplishment (the metrics, the revenue, the easily-measured) to the intangible (our self-identity, our values, our legacy).


Both, of course, are useful & valuable.


But the latter serves as a counterbalance to our natural tendency of gravitating to the immediate & the obvious. It elevates the quality of our questions. It implores us to think less about what we want to do & more about who we want to become.


When we do that, we can no longer focus only on the relatively comfortable details of right now or tomorrow. (It's impossible to know what revenue you'll want to hit in a decade, for example, just as it's impossible for a young person to know which house they'll want to retire in. There's just too much life in between for it to be a useful exercise.)


Knowing who we want to become, & making that the goalpost instead, opens us to any number of roads we might take to get there. We're more flexible, improvisational, & patient. We're more willing to invest in our potential.


Most people simultaneously don't know who they want to become & also hope to get there someday. Most brands are the same.


As a result, feeling lost & spun around can feel life-threatening.


But when we know where we're headed, & we've permitted ourselves time to get there, we breathe easier. Because we know we're not lost but exploring. Because we know we aren't failing but learning.


[[]----[]]


Functional Branding exists to help change-makers make change. If you're feeling high on hunger & passion, but low on strategy, I can help. Just hit reply. Let's talk.

Comments