The Big Picture

The stock market goes down a hundred and fifty points – Don’t sell.

The weather forecast is for a foot of snow – Don’t go to the grocery store and buy a month’s worth of food.

Your housing assessment arrived today and values your house worth a thousand dollars less than last year – Don’t put up the “For Sale” sign.

The boss tells you the company isn’t doing well – Don’t start sending out resumes just yet.

There is a human tendency to see the immediate as the long term. But it seldom is. In fact, the immediate is not even an indicator of the big picture (the stock market has ALWAYS made gains in the long term even after major depressions – the weather changes from day to day but is never forever…). And it’s the big picture we need to always keep in mind. If we react to every fluctuation in the immediate we will make ourselves crazy and we almost always lose out – in the big picture.

It is never good to be near sighted when it comes to our lives. We need to look down the road when making goals, when making decisions, when making plans. It’s quite a lot more difficult, but totally essential.

Today – Ask yourself where you want to be in 5 years – in 10. Ask yourself what it will take to get there. Get started.