dream | act | succeed

Being one step ahead is always a good thing, don’t get me wrong on that, but two steps are even better. Hey! Wait a minute! What about being three steps ahead? Or is that too much already?

In life, we are always looking forward to something special. We are looking forward to the weekend, our birthday, the new car, a salary increase or the next summer holidays. And honestly, without those special things in life, our day to day business would be pretty boring and just the same, day in, day out.

But not only our private lives are characterized by looking ahead, it is also a part of anything else in life. We need to plan basically everything. From appointments and meetings at work, to the our free time activities with friends. From ordering food, to click and collect stuff in COVID-19 times. There is hardly a day left, where we do not have at least one thing scheduled on our agenda.

But of course, todays post doesn’t want to talk about that issue. Today, we want to look even further into the future. But how far should we look?

In racing, being two steps ahead is not even enough. But let me show you:

One step ahead: I will go left before turn 4, then he blocks the left side and I have the better position on the right side for turn 4.
Two steps ahead: He knows that I want to be on the right side, therefore he will not block the left side, therefore, I will move to the left side, trying to take a late apex and overtaking him on the straight.
Three steps ahead: He is always braking too late in turn 4. I will move to the left, but he will not block me. Then I will stay right in his blindspot, causing him to think about me. Then he needs to brake as late as possible, that is causing him to have a very late apex, I can save fuel in his slipstream, brake early, take an early apex and overtake him on the straight. Slow in, fast out.

And there we have it. Being one step ahead can work, but most of the time it does not. People think! People know what they are doing. At least some of them. If you fight against an expert, being one step ahead will never work. But what about two steps. Two steps is way better! Because you do not ignore the thoughts of your opponents. You think ahead. You plan your next move, while including your opponents reactions. But at the end of the day, this is still not a guarantee to succeed. Your opponent can think that far ahead as well. Sure, not all of them, but some. Only being three steps ahead is really increasing your chances to succeed. Now, it’s not that action vs. reaction game any longer. You are thinking much further ahead, than your opponents ever would. Sure, in racing that makes sense, but come on, not in our private lives, right?

I would never draw a line somewhere. In fact, we can always think ahead, even when doing seemingly unimportant stuff. Why? Because at the end of the day, life is too short for wasting our valuable time with not succeeding. The moment we are investing our time into something, something should come out on the other side. Money? Success? It doesn’t need to be that, but at least you can prevent some of the surprises and strange situations that will otherwise occur.

I know that I am thinking too much. I worry too much, I want to solve problems that do not even exist, just because I can see them coming my why one day or another, or not. And sure, most of the time, I am just dreaming too much. I worry about things that will not even happen in the first place anyways. But well, at least I think ahead. Ahead of time, ahead of my competitors, ahead of most of the people out there in the world.

Make it a habit and think ahead. Soon you will see, how many advantages this can offer. Life will become better, believe me.

See you next time!