It seems like yesterday's thought streams on decision processes and outcomes are still floating in my head today. It happens sometimes that I unconsciously grasp onto threads of thought long after my conscious mind has dropped them.
I think the tension between short-term and long-term outcomes creates one of the most challenging aspects of decision-making.
In hindsight, it tends to be obvious that a choice that yields immediate benefits can sow the seeds of future problems, just as decisions that seem suboptimal in the moment lay the groundwork for lasting success.
For example, whenever I decide to skip breakfast, I'm making a choice with seemingly immediate benefits because the time and effort that goes into breakfast making can be put into something else.
At the same time, I'm also establishing a habit that could impact my health long-term, the seed for future problems.
It's kind of like a temporal tug-of-war in which we're constantly questioning whether we're making the right trade-offs.
But who can tell what the right trade-off is until the final moment arrives, i.e when we can finally connect all the dots looking backward?
Zooming In And Out
Our judgment shifts dramatically depending on the timeframe we're considering.
For those of us who are not too focused on the immediate future, our decisions tend not to favor quick wins and instant gratification. Because it just comes rather naturally to think beyond the immediate gratification.
When you're viewing a landscape through a telephoto lens, you mostly see the immediate details clearly but miss the broader context. Zoom out to a wider perspective, and suddenly different factors come into play, thanks to the new vantage point.
I think that's one of the main reasons why decision that seemed crucial in the moment appear trivial when viewed across years, because now we view them from a broader lens. At the same time, certain choices we made casually could have far-reaching consequences we never anticipated, simply because the lens we used then was too narrow to capture the full scope of possibilities.
In many ways, we're more or less groping in the dark or like the blind men touching different parts of an elephant when making choices without seeing the complete picture, which tends to be the case, many many times.
Feedback Loading
Also, there's this frustrating aspect on the challenges of delayed feedback.
What I appreciate about immediate decisions with shorter timeframes is that we quickly learn from our mistakes or celebrate our successes, as the feedback loop is tight and the lessons are clear.
That said, there are a plethora of important choices that don't reveal their true impact for months or even years. For example, investing in personal relationships, developing new skills, career or lifestyle changes etc.
We can follow best practices and create optimal conditions when plating a garden, but we won't know for certain if our approach will be successful until the plants mature.
This delayed gap between action and outcome tests our resolve and challenges our ability to learn and adapt. And also acts as a muscle of uncertainty tolerance, as in more resilient each time we sit with the discomfort of not knowing.
Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on the comments.
