Short Term Noise, Long Term Signals

What does a 29-year-old really know about long-term goals anyway? Why should my view even matter? Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn’t. I’m still early in the curve, still figuring things out, still making mistakes. But maybe that’s exactly why these thoughts feel worth jotting down, before life calcifies them into certainty.

Recently, the first phase of placement season wrapped up at my college. And there was a constant undercurrent of anxiety I couldn’t fully relate to. People were deeply stressed about the right job. Applying everywhere, over-optimising for tiny margins. A 0.5 difference in salary negotiations felt existential.

I kept asking myself: does this really matter in the long run?

Five or ten years from now, salaries will evolve - they always do. Careers evolve in strange, nonlinear ways. Titles change. Roles expand. Opportunities appear from places you never planned for. And when we’re in our 40s or 50s, will we really look back and say, “That extra ₹50k I negotiated in my first role: that was the turning point”?

For some, maybe yes. For me, the answer would likely be no.

What matters more (to me) is building relationships that last. Staying close to family, learning deeply, taking a decent job that comes my way and doing meaningful work in it, showing up consistently, and playing the 'long' long game without obsessing over every short-term micro-optimisation.

Does this mindset come from a position of privilege? Maybe. I won’t deny that. But it’s also the lens through which I’ve made decisions so far. And it’s helped me get to where I am today, and more importantly, helped me define the road ahead.

This long-term v/s short-term trade-off shows up everywhere, not just in careers.

You see it on the roads all the time. Someone overtakes aggressively, races past traffic, cuts lanes for a momentary high. What’s the upside? Maybe you save five minutes (if everything goes right). Or maybe it’s just the thrill. Either way, the risk is enormous. You’re betting your life for a tiny, fleeting reward.

Would you consciously make that trade if you paused and thought about it?

Most people wouldn’t. Yet we do versions of this every day: in decisions, in careers, in relationships - chasing small, immediate wins while taking on disproportionate risk.

Taking this 'long' long-term view has helped me prioritise what I say yes to, what I say no to, and how I want to live day-to-day. It’s not about being passive or unambitious. It’s really about choosing what to bet on.

We’re all betting on different things.

Some bet on speed.

Some bet on optimisation.

Some bet on status.

Some bet on compounding.

I’ve chosen to bet on time, relationships, learning, and a life that still makes sense when I zoom out by decades.

Let’s see how this plays out.