Why I Ditched Long-Term Goals
Mathew Dalby on trading decade-long plans for 12-month focus. Why short-term goals build momentum, creativity, and joy — and how StudioFAB thrives on quick, sharp projects.
The Big Plan Illusion
For years, I adored a grand plan. The ten-year strategy. The whiteboard full of arrows. The “by the time I’m fifty, I’ll have…” list.
But here’s the quiet truth I’ve learned: long-term goals are often fool’s gold.
They sound noble, but they dangle just far enough away to keep you forever reaching, never arriving. You chase something so distant that you stop noticing the side quests — the unexpected turns, obsessions, people, or ideas that might’ve become something extraordinary if you weren’t so blinkered by your plan.
The Power of the Side Quest
History’s full of proof that detours can be more fruitful than destinations.
Columbus set out for India and found the Americas.
Fleming was trying to grow bacteria and stumbled upon penicillin.
Percy Spencer was testing radar equipment when a chocolate bar melted in his pocket — and voilà, the microwave was born.
None of them were following a decade-long roadmap. They were curious, awake, and paying attention to the world as it actually was, not how they’d planned it to be.
StudioFAB and the Short Game
At StudioFAB, we see the same thing in design.
Everyone loves the big projects — the ones that take years, a small army of consultants, and entire walls of drawings. And they’re brilliant, of course. But the short, sharp ones — the pop-up competition entries, the rebranding sprints, the one-off hospitality refreshes — those are where we stretch a different set of muscles.
They demand focus, speed, and instinct. You make decisions fast. You trust your gut. You find clever shortcuts. You rediscover agility. And sometimes, you surprise yourself with how inventive you can be when you don’t have the luxury of time.
Necessity is still the mother of invention.
Give me half a dozen quick, compact projects over one big behemoth any day. They keep the studio nimble, creative, and alert — and they remind us that brilliance doesn’t always need a three-year timeline or a $30 million budget. Sometimes it just needs a spark, a deadline, and a good cup of coffee.
Why Short-Term Wins Matter
These days, I set twelve-to-eighteen-month goals.
Tight, focused bursts. Something I can define, touch, complete. Then move on.
The win is real. The progress visible. The energy stays alive.
You learn faster, adapt quicker, and avoid the emotional fatigue of chasing a horizon that never gets closer. Small goals keep your momentum human — fast enough to feel progress, slow enough to notice the scenery.
Myopia and Missed Sunsets
When you live in long-term goal mode, you risk a kind of blindness. You’re so fixated on the destination that you miss the texture of the journey — the people you meet, the moments of calm, the small wins that quietly build a good life.
Let’s not trade every sunrise and sunset for a dream that might never deliver what you think it will.
Because those are the real dividends — the ones you don’t see until you stop staring at the far-off peak and notice the light on the horizon.
Small Stones, Big Path
Enough short-term goals, stacked with intent, tend to form a long-term one anyway.
But you’ll have lived far more of your life getting there.
No decade-long manifestos. No “vision boards for 2035.”
Just the next clear, achievable thing — done properly, with presence, and a little joy along the way.
You can keep chasing the summit if you like.
I’m happier building the path — one small, beautiful stone at a time.
