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We give too much importance to the things that are happening with us right now, and we waste a lot of time thinking or staying disturbed by certain things. This happens because the mind stays too close to the moment and treats it as larger than it is.

In this newsletter, I’ll talk about the 80-year-old perspective. The 80-year perspective is a way to bring distance into thinking. It is all about asking a question about any situation, whether it will matter when looking back at life after many years. You’ll be surprised to see that almost nothing matters now. Of course, the main issue will never get dissolved, but it won’t matter too much.

The present has a strange way of distorting importance. Whatever is happening right now can appear much larger than it actually is simply because it has our full attention. When we are emotionally close to a situation, it becomes difficult to judge it with balance. The mind treats immediate discomfort as something urgent and significant, even when time would eventually reduce its importance.

This is why temporary situations receive far more mental energy than they deserve. Not because they are life-changing, but because closeness creates intensity.

One way to create distance is to imagine viewing your current situation from the far end of life. Assume your age is 80 years, and you’re in the final stage of your life. Your concerns that seem heavy today don’t even matter when placed against decades of experience, changes, and personal growth.

This perspective is not about dismissing challenges or pretending nothing matters. It is about seeing things in proportion. Of course, you’ll focus on the present, but it doesn’t deserve the kind of emotional attachment we give it in the present.

Time has a way of reducing the emotional weight of many situations. What feels consuming today becomes a small detail in the larger story of life. The issue itself may not disappear immediately, but its importance usually changes.

That is what makes this perspective valuable. It helps us become more thoughtful about where we place our attention and emotional energy. Life becomes lighter when we stop treating every present concern as if it will define the future.

We can get rid of a lot of pain if we think in years instead of obsessing over today. Your life will be a lot better, I can guarantee that.

Thanks for reading G! See ya!

— Anirban

Australia is actually wider than the Moon! While the Moon has a diameter of about 3,474 km, the distance across Australia from east to west is nearly 4,000 km.

The Laws of Human Nature, by Robert Greene. The book acts as a comprehensive guide to decoding human behaviour, understanding unconscious drives, and mastering self-control. Greene analyses universal psychological biases, flaws, and social dynamics across 18 distinct laws, utilising prominent historical narratives to illustrate each concept.