Curated Reading and Listening Material
THIS WEEK’S BLOG -> There Are Two Games… Are You Playing The Right One?
READ -> This article is about thinking for oneself and wisdom and those two connect. It highlights a common myth about how to grow in wisdom. Really good article.
LISTEN -> My friend John Mayer hosts this podcast called Coach Your Brains Out and it is phenomenal. This episode specifically is really really good! Bernie Holiday, who I had on my podcast, talks about the training and trusting mindset.
VERSE -> Deuteronomy 8:17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God.
There Are Two Games… Are You Playing The Right One?
One of my favorite topics to talk and write about is the long game vs short game. In light of last week’s desires vs discipline topic, I thought it would be good to write about the long game. (CLICK HERE to read last week’s blog about desires vs. discipline)
What Is The Difference
To briefly summarize, the long game is doing things now that might not appear ‘fun’, pleasurable, or even necessary but in the end, they pay big dividends. Simply put, it’s turning down what feels good now in favor of what will set us up for feeling awesome later.
The short game on the other hand seems good today, seems pleasurable, but will have no reward in the future and actually has negative dividends.
The long game activities compound over time. The short game activities will have no net gain and no future benefit.
Examples
In the most simple examples, the short game is the donut and the long game is the salad. The short game is the new big TV, the long game is putting that money into savings. The short game is Netflix. The long game is a good book. The short game is talking about game six of the NBA Finals for an hour, the long game is building recruiting relationships.
We overvalue the here and now and undervalue progress in the future.
If you will get a long game mentality and buy into long game activities you will not be disappointed.
The high-level leaders I know are learners, they are curious, they are focused, and they play the long game.
They are always focused on something that fits into the long game category. Studying biomechanics. Reading books on great leaders. Listening to podcasts about communication. Studying great marketers to help with recruiting.
When you talk to them they are really really sharp and thoughtful.
My Experience With High-Level Leaders
I’m in a cohort with some of the best coaches in America. And I don’t just mean winning percentage. I mean they are high character, they treat people well, and they win. There are 20 plus National Championships in this group.
Here is what I noticed about all of them. They all talk about learning. Some read voraciously. Others listen to books. Some listen to podcasts. But they are learners. I am sure they have a ‘guilty pleasure’ that falls into the short game category, but by in large, they play the long game.
The playout of being a learner is they are really sharp. They are really thoughtful. They take in knowledge and then connect the dots to of that knowledge which produces wisdom. (See attached article above).
Start playing the long game today…your future self will thank you later!
Question:
What activities do you do daily that would fall into the long game category?
What activities do you do daily that would fall into the short game category?
Do a long game vs. short game inventory and make appropriate adjustments.
Click Here to subscribe to this newsletter.
