What game are YOU actually playing? The answer will define if you win.
Yesterday one of the friends at our gym organized a beach workout. At the end he put on that classic “Bring Sally Up, Bring Sally Down” song. The rule: squat when it says DOWN, stand when it says UP.
Simple.
So I naturally did what felt good for me - I went all the way down. Deep squat. My resting place. My “I could camp here all day” position.
The friend noticed me smiling and added a new rule: “Angela, only squat to 90 degrees.”
Harder. Tougher. More “proper.”
One could argue: “Well, obviously, that’s the point!”
Well… obviously not.
If your goal is to show up, move your body, have fun with people you like, get some sun, and leave with more joy than you came with… then harder isn’t the point at all. Harder would have actually made the real goal harder to achieve.
It wasn’t the game I was playing that day🌞
Same goes for eating more veggies.
If your goal is to eat more, why make it harder? Why buy whole vegetables you dread chopping, or eat them flavorless “because it’s healthier”? Because it's less enjoyable? That’s how you fail the very game you say you want to win.
Instead, adding your favorite spices, buying precut mixes, making it easy, making it tasty… that’s what helps you win The Veg game.
Business is no different.
Trying to please everyone? Hard. Unnecessary hard and impossible.
Trying to solve a very specific problem for very specific people? Much easier, much smarter, and far more likely to work.
Harder isn’t always better. When harder doesn't move you towards YOUR goal.
Some battles are worth fighting.
Some are worth cheating so you win with less waste.
Defining the game upfront — the rules, the outcomes, the feeling you want to have at the end — saves you energy, time, and a surprising amount of unnecessary suffering that you might need for something else.
Over to you, dear reader: Are you choosing the rules of the game YOU are playing, or letting someone else choose who you need to win?