How Thinking Long-Term Helped Me Accomplish Bigger Goals in Less Time
When I created Four Year U., it wasn’t because I had all the answers. It was because I noticed a pattern in my life: everything seemed to move in four-year cycles. Jobs, relationships, major shifts—they all tended to evolve or change every four years. So I asked myself, What if I stopped leaving that to chance? What if I started living intentionally in four-year arcs?
That one decision changed everything.
The Problem with Thinking One Year at a Time
Like most people, I used to think in terms of yearly resolutions. Every January, I’d set a new goal. Twelve months later, I’d either celebrate success or quietly reset with a new goal, never quite building on the momentum of the previous year.
Year-long thinking started to feel limiting. The goals felt smaller because the timeline was short. I wanted to think bigger.
And when I did, something unexpected happened:
I started achieving more in less time.
Bigger Goals. Faster Results.
The moment I started thinking in four-year arcs, my mindset changed. I gave myself permission to dream bigger—to set ambitious, meaningful goals that wouldn’t fit in a single year. But here’s the surprise:
- Goals I thought would take a year? I completed them in just three months.
- Projects I assumed needed 90 days? Done in four weeks.
Why? Because once I had a clear long-term vision and structure, I could stop spinning my wheels. I could just… start.
The Real Cause of Procrastination
Procrastination often comes from ambiguity, not laziness. When we don’t have a clear structure for our goals—when we don’t even know where to write the answer to the question we’re asking ourselves—we stall.
Think of it like a worksheet in school. The teacher gives you a question and a spot to answer it. But in adult life, when you’re setting your own goals, you have to create both the question and the answer space.
That added layer of effort can cause hesitation. We avoid it because it feels overwhelming. But once I built a repeatable system—the 4-Year U. framework—I no longer had to figure out the structure. It was already there.
Prepare the Workspace. Then Work the Work.
This became a mantra for me.
I started to take what I call a “TikTok approach”—not the app, but the rhythm: prepare, then act.Create the space. Then show up and do the work. Set the stage. Then perform.
The 4-Year U. system is that space. It gives you the structure to dream big, break it down, and build toward it—quarter by quarter, month by month, week by week.
And when the structure is in place, you move faster, more confidently, and with less resistance.
The Takeaway
If you feel stuck, maybe the problem isn’t the goal itself. Maybe you just need a better container for it.
Think in four-year arcs.
Build the structure.
Then prepare the workspace—and work the work.
You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve when you think long-term.
📘 Ready to start your own 4-Year U. journey?
Download the free Seasonal Quadrant Planner and start mapping out your goals with clarity and purpose.