Beware Short Term Gain Causing Long Term Loss

This topic came to mind after speaking with a friend who recently took a part-time job as his family needs additional income. In speaking with him he was just realizing that while taking that job seemed like a good idea initially, it was keeping him from doing other things that brought in more money, and that he enjoyed doing.

      It was the perfect example of thinking in the moment without taking into consideration the overall impact in the long term. There is a huge difference between living in the moment – being present – and thinking only of the short term without taking the time to fully understand the ramifications of such decisions. The former leads to a full life, the latter leads to stress and possibly life-long consequences.

      Having been cursed with a project manager mindset, I tend to over-analyze things, which in itself causes issues at times. That being said, over-analysis has never gotten me in trouble, while going for the short-term gain without stepping back to look at the big picture has caused some less-than-good outcomes. While I am working on getting better at living in the moment, I am also working to avoid jumping prematurely at what looks good for the short term. Two tough lessons to master.

      One of my favorite techniques when faced with a complex decision – short or long term – is to follow Ben Franklin’s approach. He would take a sheet of paper, draw a line down the middle, and list the pluses on one side and the minuses on the other side. Taking his time over a few days gave him time to reflect on what he wrote and to add new items he hadn’t yet considered. Once he felt the process was complete, the final decision came easily as all he had to do was weigh the two sides; the winner was obvious. Once you get comfortable with this technique you may be able to perform this exercise in your head.

     So, live in the moment but take the time to make fully informed decisions. Just because something looks good today doesn’t mean it’s best for the long term. Taking a little time to think things through will pay great dividends down the road. That takes me back to the old Fram oil filter commercial that I’ve referenced before – “You can pay me now or pay me later.”. Young-ens, you’ll have to Google that one.  

     As an aside, another piece of life advice I picked up on TV was from Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse (again young-ens, you’ll have to Google that). Actually, it was from their arch enemy Chauncey Frog. He sometimes carried a mystery object in a sack and whenever he was asked about it he would say, “Just in case, see.” Very similar to the Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared”. Who says TV isn’t educational!

www.RetiredandInspiredat55.com  04-08-2024