20th November 2024
As evolutionists tell us, our ancestors were living in jungles for millennia before they started agriculture and building societies. The agrarian society is only 12,000 years old compared to the human race’s history of 2.8 million years!
For that long, the human race focused on the immediate –movements in the bush, unknown sound in distance – to survive and find food. Today in complex societal situations this short-term bias works against us most of the time.
The problem is that our brains are wired to act and react as if we are still living in the jungles, and actually, we are not. Ronald Wright in his book, “A Short History of Progress”, says that humans are operating 21st-century software on 50,000-year-old hardware and its results could be catastrophic.
In our business of Investing, this cognitive bias of the investors plays havoc, if left uncontrolled. With every blip in the ticker on the screen, our brains hear strange sounds behind the bushes, our heart races, we run all doomsday scenarios in our minds and react in fear.
We must understand and accept that, as a race, we are not good at placing our present in the long-term view of things. However for best results, we do need to bring in long term orientation in our approach.
Long term thinking means you’re comfortable envisioning and consciously working towards the future with a goal in mind. It’s a viewpoint that brings to life the exciting possibilities of what’s to come, and each decision you make is made with an expected timeline in mind.
A golden rule of behaviour change is to start small. Don’t try to change your entire life all at once. You’re more likely to make a permanent change if you deal with one area at a time.
Start thinking long-term when it comes to your finances, Or your health, Or your career, or your relationships, Or your kids and before long, you’ll notice your new outlook spilling over into other parts of your life, too, and you’ll feel what writer Dan Kennedy calls “a nostalgia for the future.”
As the saying goes, ‘Don’t Be So Focused on “The Weeds”, That You Lose Focus on the plant.’
Think long term and stay blessed forever.