When success means winning the game you’ve opened yourself up to a roller coaster of stress

When success means winning the game you’ve opened yourself up to a roller coaster of stress

When the process didn’t produce the predicted result you’re behind, losing, a loser.

Each mistake, error, ignorance or incompetence is met with anger and frustration as all was not what you expected or hoped for.

More time is need, more resources, more money and you’re already losing, a loser.

But what if you’ve already WON?

Just by being born.

By very virtue of the fact that you get to play the game.

A game of trial and error

A game where there is always a different approach

A new method to explore

New possibility and opportunity

With ever increasing stakes

Where when you fail you learn

Where when you succeed you learn

An infinite game

Where the only competition is you yesterday.

If you’ve already won then you get to approach life and business in a totally different way.

You get to

Focus on mastery in the moment rather than forcing yourself to do things in a way you don’t want to do them just to get them out of the way. Skillpower NOT willpower.

Focus on refining a process that will never be perfect, will always require iteration but when you lose the idea of perfect or done you can make more bets, play faster, enjoy the game. Rather than stress every negative outcome killing yourself in the process.

Create a fail forward culture where the team approach failure like a friend, explores failure and relishes the opportunity to constantly improve rather than predict - plan - execute - hold breath - panic you enter a permanent cycle of test - operate - test - exit because that’s the job and the game of life.

And ultimately, you come out much further ahead.

Do you operate like you’ve already WON or like you have an expectation of perfection?