The 25-Year Framework

But when you gain the perspective that one single quarter on the calendar—or 90 days—is just one percent of an overall 25-year vision for your future, suddenly you relax and recognize that there is actually far more time than you’ll need to achieve your biggest goals right now.

Think of a current goal you have. If I told you that you had 25 years to achieve it, would that be enough time? More than likely, your answer is yes—with plenty of time to spare. Look back over the past 25 years and consider your ten most important achievements during that period. Did you have more than enough time to get those ten things done? If

If you choose goals now that you’ll also want in 25 years, you can be sure that they’re strong, timeless goals that you’ll stick with—and that are worth sticking with.

The second was that I learned that I could keep focused on a single activity for 25 years. I now had proof that I could stay with something for a long period of time. Given the short-term focus of most people, I knew this was an enormous advantage.

From the end of 1978 to the end of 2003, except for 12 of those days, I followed through on this daily practice, filling up journal after journal. I’ve never gone back and read anything I wrote down. It was just the activity of doing it that was important. If you looked at where I was in 1978 and where I was at the end of 2003, everything in my lif

I decided to treat the situation as if I were starting all over again fresh. There was little from my past that was worth hanging onto because clearly I had flunked—I flunked on the level of personal relationship, and I flunked on the level of my business back then. I thought to myself, “What if you gave yourself 25 years to transform your life?”