Why do people tend to adopt long-term thinking after awakening? Essentially, it's not just about becoming more patient, but about a fundamental change in a person's underlying operational structure. Before this change occurs, most people actually live within a short-term feedback system: they pursue immediate results, hope to receive recognition quickly for their efforts, and are highly sensitive to uncertainty and potential losses, making their behavior easily driven by anxiety. If they don't see results in the short term after doing something, they tend to doubt, waver, or give up.

When a person's structure begins to change, they gradually shift from "result-driven" to "system-driven." Time is no longer just used to exchange for rewards but to build long-term capabilities; choices are no longer based solely on immediate feedback but on whether the direction is worth sustained investment; and their sense of identity no longer depends on external evaluations but on internal certainty.

At this point, long-term thinking is not just about persistence but about a stable operational ability: the capacity to withstand fluctuations, progress rhythmically, and hold a clear belief in value. Many people can't achieve long-term thinking not because of a lack of ability, but because they are still living within a short-term structure. When faced with delayed feedback, they want to change direction; when they don't see certain results, they start to feel anxious.

But the real difference has never been about "whether you can persist," but whether you are struggling within a short-term system or have already switched to operating within a long-term system.