How to Make the Long Game Work for You
If You Want to Make It, You’ve Gotta Be in It for the Long Haul
“Life ain’t a track meet, it’s a marathon…”
I’ll spare you the rest of Ice Cube’s You Can Do It, but that line from the West Coast icon really sums up what this post is about.
What is the long game?
For a lot of people, the long game is a safe routine that results in a mediocre outcome.
But to others, it’s a roadmap to achieving their goals.
If you really want to get the most out of life, the long game requires determination, grit and persistence.
Too often, I’ve heard people in perfectly privileged positions lament their circumstances. They can list all the things they want to do but haven’t the slightest clue of how to get there.
In 2017, I actually decided to do a marathon.
The training hurt. My body hurt. And on days when I went slower than a tortoise, my ego hurt too. But I went on to do three marathons.
This year, my goals shifted to beating my half marathon personal best. Over the course of three months, I worked on becoming faster over shorter distances. This too required a degree of sacrifice, but on the 30th of March I bested my previous half marathon PB by 2 minutes.
At the end of 2017, I decided that I wanted to travel and become debt-free. More than that, I wanted to go from being time-poor to time-rich. After working non-stop for the past six years, being at the beck and call of clients in an industry with scant regard for personal time, I took a decision that I needed to play a different type of long game if I really wanted to achieve my goals.
Fast-forward five months and I find myself teaching at two middle schools in rural South Korea.
Getting to this point was tough and at times, nerve-wracking.
On some days, the arduous amount of admin required for the application made me consider throwing in the towel.
I remember going into a nervous panic when I discovered that my date of arrival in South Korea was two weeks away and I hadn’t yet received my visa.
But, I’m here to tell the tale.
Teaching was never my passion, but after almost a month into being a teacher, I’ve rediscovered the value of crafting connections and imparting value to those who need it most.
Find a vision that keeps you hungry.
For me, that vision is more than just financial freedom, it’s time freedom too. It’s about never, ever playing it safe and soaking up new experiences.
What does your long game look like?
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