4) Frame of the consequences of your actions in 3-5 year windows

If all this stuff sounds intimidating, I understand. Don’t curl up in a snuggy yet. Here’s the thing: short term thinking fertilizes failure. Period. You’ll need to cultivate short term motivation. and long term thinking.

If you think about your life in 3-6 month timeframes, quitting your job seems dumb, irresponsible, crazy. If you think in terms of 3-5 year windows, it’s probably the single most profound thing you could change to improve your chances of succeeding as an entrepreneur. See also: businesses take 3 years to start.

Same for my decision to blog and podcast. If I’m thinking in 6 month timeframes, it looks like a waste of time. If we are talking 3-5 year windows the move makes more sense. On the surface long term thinking looks intimidating, but in action we’ve found it has freed us up to take greater short term risks and cop to bigger challenges.