Edward Banfield's idea of the "long time horizon," says that more successful people look further into the future, judging their efforts and results in terms of decades, not weeks or even months. This is the power of thinking long.
Tom Butler-BowdonPeople race to achieve everything by a certain age in their life, be it 40, 50 or 60 - but with increasing life spans 50 or 60 might be just the beginning of a new career, or just the point when you begin to get into your stride. There used to be a syndrome of me retiring at 65 and then dying not long after because their life was stripped of meaning, without their work. But these days you may live another 20 or 30 years beyond 65 so you have to figure out where you can make another contribution.
Tom Butler-BowdonMost of us cherish freedom, but when we actually get the opportunity to make our own way it can be terrifying.
Tom Butler-BowdonTurning 40 is often a big symbolic point in one's life. In the 20s we feel we can do anything, but as the 30s progress we become more mature emotionally, and in terms of work tend to focus. These two things combined: emotional maturity and career focus, often produced an explosion of self-purpose in our 40s.
Tom Butler-BowdonWe are all living longer lives now, so this extra longevity gives us second, third or fourth chances to succeed at something or change careers. It is great to think big, but the formula for success in our time is also to THINK LONG. There is a huge waste of talent out there because people think they are 'too old' or 'too late'. Actually, if you take the span of productive life from 20 to 80, at 50 you still have 50% of productive years ahead of you.
Tom Butler-Bowdon