Entrepreneurs and Investors: Keeping your eye on the endgame pays off

Let’s face it – we live in a world where people expect their needs will be met with instant gratification.  Social media, online shopping and the availability of having access to everything right at our fingertips means that consumers have high expectations that their needs will be met immediately without having to wait for what they want.  Unfortunately, these kind of short-term reward expectations can have drastic consequences for us both personally and professionally as well as for the economy overall.

When we focus on the short-term gain instead of the long-term goals for ourselves or our businesses, we deprive ourselves of the full benefits (like all of the compound interest) that can come from patience and being self-disciplined when working toward our future goals and we wind up hurting the economy as well. We recently wrote about the benefits of investing for the long-term and in tribute to our beloved Washington Capitals and DC sports in general, patience pays off and success is the reward. We hope they win the cup after 20 years!

I can attest to keeping a long term vision through the building of my own business, as years of hard work and sacrifice have gone into growing Sherman Wealth Management into what it is today.  I did not start out reaping the benefits of my efforts right away. It continues to take a lot of patience and planning to grow my company into the vision I have for it long-term.  Along the way, I get positive reinforcement that this slow and steady strategy is paying off. In fact, I was just named one of the Top 100 Financial Advisors by Investopedia which certainly did not happen overnight.

Building my company brick by brick and keeping my eye on the endgame is what allows me to successfully grow my company day by day.  What if all workers viewed their endgame instead of what they need immediately? Investing in the future is the only way to make sure your endgame is what you want it to be.  Resist the “I need it now” mentality that our culture pushes and shift your mindset to an endgame view.

Instead of solely focusing on short term profits, companies should look more at their long-term strategy, growth and sustainability.  In this article by Jamie Dimon and Warren Buffet, the pitfalls of what happens to the economy when looking only at the short-term is examined.  The compound interest that can be potentially generated from funds invested for the long-term is lost when companies are focused on the short-term fluctuations of the market. The article states that “Short-term-oriented capital markets have discouraged companies with a longer term view from going public at all, depriving the economy of innovation and opportunity. Fewer public companies has also meant fewer opportunities for retail investors to create wealth through their 401ks and individual retirement accounts.”

What does your endgame look like?  Can you envision kids’ college tuition paid for, a beach house, summers off or traveling the globe?  It is never too late to change your mindset and your daily habits to achieve your dreams.