Developing a “Long-Term” Perspective

September 8, 2009

Every week I’m inspired by some of the best thinkers and achievers on the planet – via email! How cool is that?! This past week I got an email from Brian Tracy, and I’d like to share, and comment on the content of this email. In it he wrote…

“The most successful people in any society are those who take the longest time period into consideration when making their day-to-day decisions. This insight comes from the pioneering work on upward financial mobility in America conducted by Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard University in the late 1950′s and early 1960′s. After studying many of the factors that were thought to contribute to individual financial success over the course of a person’s lifetime, he concluded that there was one primary factor that took precedence over all the others. He called it time perspective.”

Now, it gets really interesting…

It seems that what Dr. Banfield found was that the higher a person rises in any society, the longer the time perspective or time horizon of that person. People at the highest social and economic levels make decisions and sacrifices that may not pay off for many years, sometimes not even in their own lifetimes. They “plant trees under which they will never sit.”

What a lovely image. And, so appropriate for us as we build and grow. This Association is the tree, and as it grows, we’ll enjoy some shade, and perhaps a lovely fall coloring of leaves. But, 20 years from now, the women who join will truly benefit from the strength and resilience of this wonderful ‘tree.’

According to Tracy, “people with long term perspectives are willing to pay the price of success for a long, long time before they achieve it. They think about the consequences of their choices and decisions in terms of what they might mean in five, ten, fifteen, and even twenty years from now.”

He advocates that we…”Practice a long term perspective in every area of your life, especially in your financial life but also with your family and your health. Think of where you would ideally like to be in five years and begin today to take steps in that direction

With that said…where do I want this association to be in five years? I want to have a robust membership of professionals and students – 1,000 members would be phenomenal! Think of the strong voice we’ll have! I want to have the funding to assist members in attending national and state gatherings, to present, to offer their insights, and to expand their professional lives.

I want to be able to stage yearly physical gatherings, where we can come together for 3 days of self-care, self-enrichment, and professional development.

So many dreams…and so much time! The future is ours, dear women of funeral service. Let’s grab that brass ring, and ride!

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Posted by kim | Filed Under Uncategorized

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