Long-termism vs. Short-termism

What's the biggest difference between the unsuccessful freelance translator and the successful freelance translator?

The unsuccessful freelance translator (UFT) has a short-term orientation.

Whereas the successful freelance translator (SFT) has a long-term orientation.

Unfortunately, many UFTs aren't even aware of their short-termism, plod through their careers thinking they're doing the right thing, and then wind up in their 60s unable to retire.

UFTs unknowingly take the short-term view in a myriad of ways, and I can't deal with them all here, so let me give you just one example:

UFTs check their translations before submission - even though the agent is going to perform a check after submission anyhow.

You probably recognize this from my best-selling Amazon/Kindle ebook, 88 WAYS TO BE SUCCESSFUL AS A FREELANCE TRANSLATOR, in which it stands proudly as WAY No. 28:

28. Stop checking your work

Of all the 88 WAYS, it's No. 28 that I'm most famous (or should I say infamous!) for.

When the ebook was published two years ago, my ideas were a bit ahead of their time, and I went through a period of being relentlessly mocked by short-termist UFTs - who back then still comprised the majority of commentators operating in the freelance translation space.

Even now, with what I teach gaining increasing acceptance, Matt Stanton is still known as "the guy who says not to check your work."

Sometimes I get a bit annoyed, thinking, "What about the other 87 WAYS?!" or "What about the dozens of articles and hundreds of posts I've done on other topics?!"

But I'll take it!

At least people know me for something substantial and are paying attention to what I teach, right?

Anyway, getting back to the theme of this article, why is checking your translations an example of short-termism?

After all, you may already be mumbling something like this to yourself right now:

When I check my work, ensuring there are no errors and omissions, I build my rep with the agent, and this rep will allow me to secure steady work over the long term.

Okay, this may be true, to a point, but let me tell you this:

After not checking my work for many years (unless it's for a direct client with no in-house check capability), I have not noticed any drop-off in orders compared to before I began implementing the strategy (if anything, it's the opposite, so this thing is field tested!). I'm still working for the same agents I did before, and though errors and omissions inevitably arise more frequently, I feel the "in-demand, get it done" vibe I give off actually boosts my rep. Plus the agents love the speed I can submit at and the huge volume of work I can take on.

Checking your work is short-termist because it ignores the time you're wasting if you want to be successful over the long run.

Think about this:

When you're checking your work, this is what you're spending time doing:

• Reading something you've already read.
• Reading something you've already written.
• Thinking about things you've already thought about.
• Looking at terms you've already looked up.

In other words, you're not taking any action during that time to learn and grow.

Most freelance translators don't come from an economics background, and they're often not fully conscious of the significance of trade-offs, or opportunity cost as we call the concept in economics.

When you're spending time going over something old, you're sacrificing time that you could be devoting to looking at something new.

Even if you're only checking your work for 30 minutes a day, you're losing 150 hours a year.

Imagine the kind of mastery of your chosen field you could obtain with 150 hours of concentrated study.

Then imagine that being compounded year after year after year ...

Imagine the qualifications you could acquire.

Envisage the sorts of speeds you'd be able to work at.

Alternatively, you could use those 150 hours for exercise and preparing healthy meals - thus ensuring your long-term health and fitness.

Or you could just do paid translation for those 150 hours, putting the money in stocks, reinvesting the dividends each year, and building up a sizable nest egg for your retirement.

Or you could spend more time with your spouse and kids (or looking for a partner if you don't have one), building deep, secure relationships with them that will last a lifetime.

The possibilities are endless.

Here we've looked at the example of not checking your work, but whatever you're doing, you should always ask yourself, "From a long-term point of view, is this the best use of my time?"

Make asking that question a habit, and you'll go from UFT to SFT in no time!

Best of luck on your journey.

Matt