The here and now and daily priorities: an archived Project Mindset post, originally published in 2021. Dates and roles reflect the original publication.
Focus on the Here and Now
A successful entrepreneur who had founded and sold several companies once gave me valuable advice: planning too far ahead can become a way of preparing to fail.
He had watched peers make grand plans. The harder they clung to distant goals, the less attention they gave immediate tasks. Failure and disappointment followed.
Interestingly, he felt he failed more often than others. Yet while focusing on his current situation, he trusted that things would eventually work out.
Focus on the task in front of you
Focus has always challenged me: should I concentrate on my current job or plan my next step? Spend time on this subject or another?
I think his advice is right. Make big plans, but pay attention to what is in front of you. Otherwise, you risk failing both now and in that imagined future.
Focusing on the present does not necessarily mean doing only one thing. Personality and mindset influence whether one or several projects work best. As so often, priorities matter.
What needs doing today? Where are fixed deadlines? What matters for your long-term life? Work through those things step by step to succeed now and later. I will write separately about prioritisation.
Lesson learned: concentrate on your current situation and take one step at a time. That is how you can win today and tomorrow.
More in the Project Mindset archive (German) and the Reza Mehman Podcast.
