CHAPTER 6 — Elevate Your Perspective

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The Law of Shortsightedness

The present feels absolute. A mood, an insult, a headline, a setback can fill the entire horizon. Shortsightedness turns temporary emotion into permanent decision.

Most people react to immediate pressure and call it strategy. They chase quick relief, quick validation, quick wins—then pay later in regret, reputation loss, and missed long-term power.

The corrective is the long view: step back far enough to see cycles, incentives, and consequences. Ask what will matter in a year, not an hour. When you train yourself to think in longer arcs, you stop being yanked around by the mood of the moment—and you begin shaping it.

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The Laws of Human Nature — Robert Greene.
Robert Greene • Penguin Random House
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