One of life’s important balances is between short-term survival and long-term momentum. It applies in almost every context. You need short-term results to survive. You need long-term results to build momentum.

Some examples:

• A company needs to make sales for short-term survival, and can build momentum through development of new products.
• A household needs to make enough income to cover bills for short-term survival, and can build momentum through saving for retirement.
• A marriage needs basic civility for short-term survival, and can build momentum by having those deeper, tougher conversations.
• A college student needs to eat and sleep for short-term survival, and can build momentum by studying to learn new skills
• An entry-level employee needs to go to work today for short-term survival, and can build momentum by preparing for and applying for a management position.
• A factory needs to repair broken-down equipment for short-term survival, and can build momentum by replacing worn out equipment with newer models.

Here’s the trouble. Survival is always urgent. Long-term momentum is never urgent. What’s worse, doing something for the long term usually makes the short-term more difficult. Studying is harder than partying. Saving is harder than spending. Research and development is harder than making another batch of the same product. Long-term gain often involves short-term pain. Human nature is short-sighted, and pain-averse. Making room for the long-term is not natural.

In fact, many of us do this backwards, often choosing long-term pain for short-term gain. We borrow from the future for a more comfortable today. Misuse of consumer debt and poor choices about eating and exercise are common examples. A company slapping it’s trusted brand on inferior products for short-term profits is another case of the same thing. The long term results of this backwardness are devastating. With money it leads to bankruptcy. With health it leads to disability. Not good stuff.

Wisdom means looking past today, past tomorrow, all the way to the end of the story. Zoom out. How does what you do today affect next year, next decade, your life’s legacy, and eternity? Making choices for the best long-term result is hard. It takes maturity and the ability to tolerate discomfort. But the rewards in life and business are huge.

All you have to use today is the short-term. We all gotta eat, so go ahead and do some short-term stuff today to take care of that. But, if you can, organize things so you have some time and resources left for building momentum. What part of today’s short term will you invest in your long term?