If I asked you which is greater?
5km or 30mins?
Your response is likely to call me stupid and move on. Time and distance are not comparable.
Yet, we do that everyday.
How far is your office?
20kms
35 mins
How far are we?
7kms
65mins
And then google maps came along and made almost everything time based.
It doesn’t matter how far things are – what matters is how long it will take you to get there.
And we just admit – that helps a lot. It’s sets the right expectations. Knowing that something is an hour away settles us down, even if it’s just a km away (well, almost!)
And even when the time to the destination changes, it doesn’t bother us as much. We adjust.
Yet, when it comes to life, we don’t seem to use the same hack.
My success is 1Cr bank balance away
My success is the title of SVP away
My success is an IPO away
My success is 30 countries travelled away
What if instead we had a way of measuring everything in time?
My success is 18 months away (as of now)
My success is 10 years away (as of now)
My success is a lifetime away (as of now).
What if the way we measured success was not by where we have to reach, instead how much time is it likely to take?
What if we committed to the journey, irrespective of the time it takes?
My success is very day.. i feel happy with what i do. Each day brings new tasks and new success. ?
wow this is an amazing way to think. I already feel a little relaxed in my mind. instead of constantly cribbing about not being successful we can set a date by when we expect to be successful and do the part of the work each day whilst enjoying the journey.
but at the same time I feel that because I’m setting my success to a later date I might not put the required effort right now.
this is almost like having a deadline to a project and procrastinating until the last day. but unlike a project we might not be able to be successful.