Playing the long game
I've shifted my focus from chasing short-term gains to embracing a long-term strategy, recognising that a small change in perspective can yield massive returns over time.
Recently I read the following two quotes in a James Clear 3-2-1 Newsletter and they inspired me to write this post about playing the long game:
"Each day, spend some time on two things:
- working toward something that will pay off years from now
- appreciating something that is happening right now"
And this one:
"Many of the best things in life are endless.
Being in a great relationship. Staying fit and healthy. Doing work that fulfills you. Being a good parent, coach, or teacher.
Stop worrying about accomplishing these things and instead focus on building a life where you continually practice them.
The important stuff has no finish line."
Time is both finite and infinite
The scarlet thread running through both of these quotes is TIME. Time is probably the biggest paradox there is.
- When you are going through a hard time, you wish time could fly
- When you are enjoying yourself, you wish it could slow down
- When you are a child, you wish you were older
- When you are an adult, you wish you could stay young
- We overestimate how long a day/week/month is
- We underestimate how short a lifetime is
- Time is the scarcest resource we will ever have on earth
- Time is the resource we waste the most
One of the most interesting things about time is - how it manages to change our perspectives/opinions over time.
Side Note: when is the last time you changed your opinion/perspective about something?
For example, from the age of 18 to about 22/23 I competed seriously in the sport of powerlifting. This required 2 hours of training a day, 4-5 days per week and it involved a lot of heavy lifting, eating and recovery.
Most people who knew me at the time, would say I was completely obsessed with becoming better, going heavier and out performing the competition. I did everything it takes and sacrificed in many other areas of my life to achieve my goals.
Not only this, but I was also completely convince that this is the only way to train, and if you're not training like I do, then you are an idiot.
Out with the old, in with the new
Fast forward a few years (I'm 30 years old now) and my perspective/opinion has changed a bit.
What's important to me know is to train in such a way that allows me to:
- Focus on strength, cardiovascular fitness and agility to be fit overall
- Focus on full body movements
- Work on VO2 Max by doing the Norwegian 4x4 Protocol
- Stay injury free
- Make it easy to train 5 days a week
- For example, train first thing in the morning and "check it off the list"
- Lower the barrier to entry (every session does not need to be gruelling) because training consistently for 40+ years is much better than going all out, injuring yourself and losing weeks of training opportunities
The question is, why the change of opinion?
Quite simply, I realised that I want to train in a way that allows me to do the following things when I'm 70+ years old:
- Pick up my grand kids and lift them onto my shoulders
- If I stumble over something I want to be agile enough not to fall and break a hip
- Hip fractures significantly increase mortality in older adults, with about 18-33% dying within a year of breaking a hip.
- I want to be able to carry my groceries to my car and not be winded
- I want to play touch rugby on the beach with my kids and score a try without tearing a hamstring
- I want to be able to move around heavy things and not depend on people for help (because there will be times where there is no-one to help)
I've shifted my focus from chasing short-term gains to embracing a long-term strategy, recognising that a small change in perspective can yield massive returns over time.
This isn't about training advice but about illustrating the power of playing the long gameโprioritising sustained effort and strategic thinking to achieve significant, lasting outcomes.
The important questions
I believe it's important that we evaluate and re-evaluate everything we do. If we use the initial quote as inspiration, we can ask the following 2 questions to ourselves daily:
- What can I do today that will pay off years from now?
- What should I focus on enjoying today, because I won't have this opportunity again?
"Success doesn't come from what you do occasionally, but from what you do consistently."
Marie Forleo