Module 14 · Vision & long-term thinking · Lesson 4 of 6

Short-term sacrifice, long-term benefit

Some things cost now and pay later. How to choose which costs are worth it.

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The idea

Many worthwhile things cost something now and pay later: studying instead of going out, saving instead of spending, training instead of resting, building a business instead of taking a salaried job. The cost is certain and immediate; the benefit is uncertain and delayed.

Not every short-term sacrifice is worth it. Some are clearly good investments; others trade away things that matter — health, relationships, joy — for benefits that may never arrive, or may not be wanted when they do.

Useful questions: How likely is the benefit, really? How long will I have to sacrifice, and is there an end date? What exactly am I giving up — and is any of it hard to get back later, like time with young children or my health? Is there a smaller sacrifice that would get most of the benefit?

Why it matters

Some people never sacrifice anything for the future and later regret it; others sacrifice so much for “later” that they miss the present. Weighing each sacrifice on purpose leads to choices you can live with in both.

See it happen

Themba plans to work seventy-hour weeks for five years to build his company, sacrificing weekends and time with his young children.

The first read

Founders who succeed make big sacrifices, and the company could secure his family’s future, so the long hours seem worth it.

With this idea

He weighs it: the company’s success is uncertain, and his children’s early years cannot be repeated. He keeps working hard but protects Sundays and bedtimes twice a week, and sets a review point after two years instead of five.

What changed

He weighed what he was giving up, especially what could not be recovered, and shaped the sacrifice.

Easy to get wrong

• Assuming a bigger sacrifice always brings a bigger reward.
• Refusing all short-term cost. Almost everything worthwhile requires some.

Different perspectives

Reasonable people disagree here. None of these is presented as the final word.

Invest in the future

Research on the future self suggests people often undervalue later benefits, so some deliberate sacrifice now can make a much better life later.

The present is not a waiting room

Writers like Burkeman argue that constantly deferring life for a better future means the present — the only time you actually live — keeps being spent on a future that never quite arrives.

What this rests on

A question to think about. People have argued about this for centuries. There is no single answer — only better questions.

• Hal Hershfield — the future self — Research suggesting people who feel more connected to their future selves tend to make more future-friendly choices, such as saving.
• Oliver Burkeman — Four Thousand Weeks (2021) — A book about time management that starts from finitude: you will never get everything done, so choosing is the whole skill.

Try it: Weigh one sacrifice

1. Write a sacrifice you are making or considering for the future.
2. Answer: how likely is the benefit? When does the sacrifice end? What am I giving up that is hard to get back?
3. Write a smaller version of the sacrifice that might get most of the benefit.

Reflect

• What are you giving up now that you could never get back later?
• Which small sacrifice today would your future self be most grateful for?

Use it in the coming days

Write one sacrifice and its end date on your Vision Board or goals this week, so it has limits rather than lasting forever.

Where to do it: My Goals

A sacrifice with a written end date belongs beside the goal it serves.