Numerous studies have shown that humans have evolved to crave short-term rewards for reasons related to survival. There’s no shame in accepting that you often tend to prioritize low-hanging fruits and quick wins over goals that won’t give you an outcome before 6-12 months. We all do. It just feels good to strike them off from our TODO lists.
At the same time, our longer-term goals are usually the ones that carry much more meaning than short-term ones: writing a novel, learning a hard skill, and preparing to run a marathon.
In the Deep Questions podcast episode, Ep. 310: Rethinking Discipline, Cal Newport pointed out a recent paper that mentions an interesting tip to help people find motivation for their long-term goals. The trick is to ask your brain to simulate future outcomes (how success would look like) based on your stored memories. The more you invest in learning about or improving your craft, the richer your memories (cognitive map) get. A rich cognitive map then aids in the accurate simulation of your long-term goals.
In simpler words, the less you’ve practiced your skill the less you’ve made mistakes, and the fewer learnings you’ve obtained. Because your cognitive map isn’t developed yet, you will find it difficult to imagine yourself being successful in a long-term goal. On the other hand, accomplished writers and strategists will have less self-doubt from years of practice and more confidence that the small progress they make every day will eventually compound into fully completed work.
Now that reminds me of Detroit, a video game I played last year, where Marcus (an android and a major character) can simulate various paths and possibilities to achieve an outcome – eg. a tricky climb to the top of a building and escaping an approaching enemy.