Short-Term vs. Long-Term Thinking in 2025
Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. – Warren Buffett
2025: Looking Back at My Journey
Hola! It’s 2025... I’ve been working for many years, grinding for different companies, some for the long haul, others just short-term gigs like white-labeling apps(white-label software is something you completely rebrand and resell as your own without end customers knowing the original provider.) versus building in-house machine learning models and algorithms. Over time, I’ve realized that everything falls into two categories: short-term and long-term. Some things I once considered long-term turned out to be just temporary, while others I underestimated ended up defining my career.
The same logic applies to stocks, startups, and business investments. In the stock market, volume and timing dictate short-term gains, while fundamentals and innovation drive long-term success. Startups are even trickier...some scale into giants, while others burn out quickly due to poor execution or market shifts.
Investing in too many domains and building projects in my homelab also made me think: am I truly investing in the future, or just creating distractions? The distinction is crucial. Execution, focus, and compounding effects matter far more than merely owning an idea.
Moreover, environment and ecosystem dynamics, monopolies, and compliance also influence short-term and long-term thinking. Companies that thrive long-term often adapt to regulations, scale within dominant ecosystems, and leverage industry monopolies effectively. Meanwhile, ignoring these factors can leave projects short-lived, regardless of technical excellence.
Short-Term vs. Long-Term: The Criteria
To make sense of whether something is truly long-term or just a fleeting distraction, here’s a set of criteria(I might be wrong so this might be updated and fact-check):
| Criteria | Short-Term 🚀 | Long-Term 🌱 |
|---|---|---|
| Profits Quickly | ✅ | ❌ |
| Scales Over Time | ❌ | ✅ |
| Has Enduring Value | ❌ | ✅ |
| Requires Consistency | ❌ | ✅ |
| Follows Trends | ✅ | ❌ |
| Needs Deep Learning | ❌ | ✅ |
| Can Be Automated | ✅ | ❌ |
| Tangible Impact | ❌ | ✅ |
| Can Be Whitelabeled | ✅ | ❌ |
| Market Volume Driven | ✅ | ❌ |
| Strategic Execution Needed | ❌ | ✅ |
| Ecosystem & Compliance Awareness | ❌ | ✅ |
| Adaptability to Monopoly Forces | ❌ | ✅ |
It is quality rather than quantity that matters.
Seneca
Now, let’s apply this to everything I’ve been involved in:
1. Enterprise(CRM, Software, Cloud Vendors)
✅ Long-Term Viability – These platforms are deeply embedded within large enterprises, providing lasting value. Their robust ecosystems, certifications, and flexibility make them powerful long-term investments. However, if you're only working as a Salesforce consultant on a project basis, it's more of a short-term income stream rather than a long-term skill...unless you specialize in implementation strategy.
- SAP HANA - In-Memory (RAM-Based) Storage(100x faster than traditional databases.)
- Salesforce - Globally Compliance-Ready
- AWS, Google Cloud, Azure – Leading Cloud Providers
2. Certifications: Waste of Time or Crucial for Longevity?
🔶 It Depends – Before the pandemic, I didn’t care much about certifications. I believed in self-study. But after diving into computer vision and Salesforce certs, I realized that certifications give a starting point for long-term credibility. It’s not about the paper...it’s about proving a baseline.
3. Self-Study: The Ultimate Long-Term Skill
✅ Long-Term – If you can self-study effectively, you are set for life. No certification or structured learning can compete with this skill.
4. AI Models: DeepSeek, ChatGPT, Ollama on My Local Machine
🔶 Short-Term & Long-Term – If you know how to evaluate quality results, speed is what matters. Running models locally is fun, but unless you can monetize or optimize them for a specific need, it’s just an expensive toy.
5. Tech Stacks
✅ Long-Term – These aren’t just tools. They represent first principles of software development. Their value isn’t in the tool itself, but in how they affect compliance, scalability, and best practices. However, if you’re just hopping between frameworks without mastering any, that’s short-term thinking.
6. Machine Learning, Math & Deep Learning
✅ Long-Term – But only if you can profit from it. Otherwise, it's just a template running in your localhost. If your ML project isn’t solving a real-world problem or making money, it’s just a glorified experiment.
7. Health: The Ultimate Long-Term Investment
✅ Long-Term – Sleep, exercise, and maintaining real human connections are not negotiable. Lose your health, and all your projects, domains, and certifications won’t mean a thing.
8. Money: Stop Wasting on Gadgets
❌ Short-Term – I’ve spent too much money upgrading gadgets, RAM, and unnecessary homelab setups. The truth? It’s an addiction, not an investment. Save your money for assets that appreciate.
9. Skills Matter More Than Tools
✅ Long-Term – A good developer, architect, or entrepreneur will thrive regardless of the tools. The ability to adapt and solve problems is the real long-term skill.
10. Productivity vs. Quality Mindset
✅ Long-Term – Productivity hacks help, but quality is king. If you ship garbage faster, it’s still garbage. Focus on deep work and long-term impact.
11. Too Many Things? Stop Spreading Too Thin
❌ Short-Term & Self-Destructive – This is one of my biggest mistakes. Jumping from one idea to another dilutes focus. The key is to stick to things with long-term compounding effects. Pick a few and execute deeply.
The Brutal Truth
- If money is your short-term goal, focus on gigs, white-labeling, and short-term consulting.
- If impact & sustainability matter, build projects that solve real-world problems.
- Health, learning, and relationships matter more than anything else.
- Too many domains, ideas, and unfinished projects = wasted energy.
- Speed is great, but execution with depth beats jumping between trends.
Long-term thinking is about playing the infinite game...not chasing the next shiny
