Quote of the day by Bill Gates: "Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years." - Silicon Canals

"The truth is, we're terrible at understanding time. We set these massive goals for the year ahead, pump ourselves full of New Year's resolution energy, and then feel like failures when December rolls around and we haven't transformed into completely different people. Meanwhile, we completely ignore the insane compound effect of small, consistent actions over a decade. Think about last January. What were your big goals? Maybe you wanted to start that business, write that book, get in the best shape of your life,"

"The simple fact that change takes way more time than we think. When I started Hack Spirit, I thought I'd have everything figured out within a year. I'd be reaching millions, making decent money, and have this whole entrepreneurship thing down pat. Reality check: After one year, I was still figuring out basic stuff like how to write consistently and what readers actually wanted. The site was tiny. Revenue was laughable."

Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a single year and underestimate what consistent small actions can achieve across a decade. Setting ambitious annual goals often leads to disappointment because life interposes unforeseen tasks, emergencies, and delays, and meaningful change generally requires more time. Incremental progress compounds over long horizons, producing significant results that are invisible in the short term. Early stages of building a project often involve basic learning, small audiences, and minimal revenue despite high expectations. Judging progress by one-year milestones ignores long-term momentum and the cumulative power of steady effort.

Read at Silicon Canals