When we assess our lives--our fulfillment, our effectiveness, what's working, what's not--how far ahead do we look? How far ahead should we look? Is that time horizon a good fit for the issues under consideration? And what issues are most relevant to us in a given time horizon?
The 10 time horizons above are the ones that generally work best for me. When I look beyond "Today" my next natural horizon is "This Week," and once I look past Friday the next signpost is a month-and-a-half out. And the "18 Month" horizon derives from the late Peter Drucker's philosophy on planning:
A plan can usually cover no more than 18 months and still be reasonably clear and specific. So the question in most cases should be, Where and how can I achieve results that will make a difference within the next year and a half? [1,2]
Each horizon is sufficiently distinct to provide a different perspective and raise a new set of issues, but they flow continuously from this immediate moment to my very last breath. That's not to say that I have a clear vision for each time horizon--not at all. (I'm a searcher, not a planner. [3])
When looking ahead it's helpful to realize that I've moved from one horizon into the next. It prompts me to ask: Am I in the right timeframe? Should I take a step back--or jump even further ahead? Should my approach change? Am I still asking the right questions? Are the same issues in play?
You might choose a different set of horizons, of course. Perhaps "This Month" makes more sense to you than "6 Weeks." Or perhaps 10 horizons is too many, and it's more useful to think in broader strokes. For example:
The key is that sometimes we're looking too far ahead when focusing closer in would be more useful, and sometimes we're staring down at our shoes when we really should lift our gaze.
(To create your own time horizons, here's a PowerPoint version of this post.)
Footnotes
[1] Peter Drucker on Excellence, Careers and Planning
[2] Managing Oneself (Peter Drucker, Harvard Business Review, 2005)
