Play games worth winning
You have a finite amount of time in this life.
Let’s start there.
That means a lot of things. First, it means you should really value every day that you have. Each day you are taking one gumball out of the jar which you will never get back.
Secondly, it means if you want to achieve great feats in life you should play games that are worth winning.
So what does that mean?
Okay. Let’s say there are 2 games that you can play.
Game 1 has a prize of 10 coins.
Game 2 has a prize of 1000 coins.
Both games take the same amount of time, you are equally interested in both, and they have relatively the same level of difficulty.
Which game would you play?
It may be obvious here, but mostly you would pick game 2.
So why is that?
If you are going to spend the same amount of time on one of two things, you should pick the one with the greater potential outcome.
Make sense, right?
But, the problem is that doing it in the real world is a lot more difficult and non-obvious.
Let me use an example.
Let’s say you own a company that sells golf balls.
You sell in two different stores.
A gas station
A golf supply store
Both stores take you the same amount of time to restock and service, but in store 2 you sell 100 packs per month compared to store 1, which sells 10 packs per month.
Which store would you focus on more?
Logically, you would say to focus more on store 2.
But, it is not that easy.
To focus more on store 2 you have to focus less on store 1. Which leads to you reducing your sales in the short term.
The best case scenario is that by focusing less on store 1 you can get into store 3, another golf supply store.
Rather than selling 110 cases per month, you are now selling 200 cases per month (cha-ching)!
So, how can you identify the games that are worth playing?
Here is the 3-step process.
Take a step back from whatever you are doing. In order to identify the game worth playing, you have to be able to view it from an outside perspective.
Ask yourself “if I pursue path 1 or path 2, which will have the higher expected value”
Be unapologetic in eliminating games that are NOT worth playing.
Life is short. Your time is your most precious resource, don’t squander it.
What we are reading this week: Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind
Still chugging along on this book. You can see all the notes I take when I read here: https://notforhire.notion.site/Book-notes-490b1f61c4a847a6a33711b49a22fc6d
Quote of the week:
“Lost time is never found again”
– Benjamin Franklin