Opportunity lies in the advantage

// The idea behind this article is not genuinely mine but has been previously presented by thinkers like Lao Tse, generals like Sun Tzu or Carl Von Clausewitz, and even the Austrian school of investment (Hazlitt, Von Mises, and more contemporaries like Spitznagel). In any case, I consider the idea so “tremendous” that I couldn't resist making my contribution.

Nowadays, there's a lot of talk about short-term and long-term goals, carpe diem, and those who live by planning, but what if it’s not about the distance to the goal?

The concept of the short-term is based on the decision to reward immediate gratification over the effort to positively impact the future (productivity, better health, more efficiency, etc.). On the opposite side, we have the long-term, where we defer that gain in favor of a known future opportunity (i.e., I'm going to study engineering to secure a job in the future).

And here lies the crux of the matter: In both scenarios, we are talking about known opportunities, but how do you prepare for the opportunities you don’t know about? Welcome: The Intermediate term 👏👏

The concept of the intermediate term (or intertemporal) is the ability to defer a gain in favor of an advantage, a better positioning. The objective here is not the goal itself but how you position yourself. Not all battles are crucial, not every day presents an opportunity; the intermediate term is about gaining an advantage, being prepared, and acting decisively when the opportunity arises.

Examples of this can be found in investment methods like Warren Buffett’s (significant investments during times of panic or bear markets) or the behavior of coniferous plants that reproduce more quickly after wildfires.

The Most Everyday Example

Just yesterday, I realized something that happened to me and is a clear example of these intermediate situations. I don’t train much, but I am quite consistent; I’m not chasing any specific goal but rather do it out of pure biology. The thing is, in August, a group of friends told me they were planning to climb Mulhacén (3482 m), and of course, I joined without thinking, but the preparation time was relatively short (less than 1 month).

I didn’t prepare much, but I went, and the whole adventure was beautiful. The detail here is that I felt fit throughout the entire ascent. I hadn't set that goal, but my competitive advantage (in terms of physical ability) allowed me to be aggressive with that opportunity and take it.

Life Understood Like Chess

The example of chess is even clearer because those of us who don’t know how to play only see one objective: to checkmate. For a grandmaster, the final goal consists of many micro-goals, ranging from positioning, defense, attack placement, etc. The grandmaster knows that if they improve, even slightly, their position with each move, they will have the upper hand. In the words of chess master Savielly Tartakower:

The winner of a game is the one who makes the next-to-last mistake.

Of course, because the other’s mistake is your opportunity, only it’s unknown until they make it, and that’s when you can exercise your full advantage.

I’ve always been very attracted to Taoist philosophy, but now I openly declare myself a devotee. Life is not a goal in itself but a journey of advantages (understood as gaining an advantage over your past self) where we defer immediate gratification, thus escaping the tyranny of the senses, and in doing so, grow. Lao Tse:

The path of light seems dark
Moving forward seems like retreat
The easy path seems difficult
The highest virtue seems empty
Great talents mature late.