Does long-termism conflict with shortcuts? Actually, they don’t. Real long-termism is itself a higher-level shortcut. Many people’s idea of a shortcut is getting results quickly—bypassing the process. But what experts look for in a shortcut is finding patterns and reducing wasted effort. Short-term thinkers always want a method to win immediately, while long-term thinkers are looking for a direction that makes them grow stronger over time through accumulation. Truly formidable people usually aren’t rejecting shortcuts; they’re choosing a path they can keep walking for ten or twenty years, using long-term accumulation to earn compounding returns and letting time magnify their advantages. So, a short-term shortcut is escaping the process, and a long-term shortcut is finding the underlying pattern. A real shortcut is never about being faster—it’s about being closer to the essence.