Are you in this for the long game or the quick buck? The problem with short-term thinking is that it’s so vulnerable. When you go for the long game, you’re building something that will last—and perhaps even outlast you. Thankfully, most of the entrepreneurs I speak to are thinking about how to succeed in the long term. Now, you may not make a lot of money upfront by playing the long game. And you may have to dedicate more time than you’d like initially. But the end result is that you’ll have more time and money and freedom down the road.
We’re talking with one of my favorite people today: Dorie Clark, author of The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World. [Full Disclosure: As an affiliate, I receive compensation if you purchase through this link.] Dorie and I chatted on here a long time ago, in Session 161. She had just come out with a couple of books, Entrepreneurial You and Stand Out that have gotten really great reviews.
We’re going to discuss what it actually means to play the long game in today’s world of short attention spans. What does it mean to sacrifice now so we can get more later? How do we play the long game, not just in business, but in life, so we’re not sacrificing our health along the way? If you’re not successful mentally and physically, then it doesn’t matter how successful your business is. These are some of the most crucial topics we all need to think about as entrepreneurs, and we’re discussing all of it and more today with Dorie.
Today’s Guest
Dorie Clark
Dorie Clark helps individuals and companies get their best ideas heard in a crowded, noisy world. She has been named one of the top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, and was honored as the #1 Communication Coach in the world at the Marshall Goldsmith Coaching Awards. She is a keynote speaker and teaches for Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School. She is the author of The Long Game, Entrepreneurial You, which was named one of Forbes’ Top 5 Business Books of the Year, and Reinventing You and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of the Year by Inc. magazine. A former presidential campaign spokeswoman, Clark has been described by the New York Times as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.” She is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, and consults and speaks for clients such as Google, Yale University, and the World Bank. She is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, a producer of a multiple Grammy-winning jazz album, and a Broadway investor. You can download her free Long Game self-assessment workbook and learn more at DorieClark.com/thelonggame.
You’ll Learn
- The two main reasons Dorie believes many of us are trapped in short-term thinking these days
- How the sunk-cost fallacy can keep us from thinking and acting in our long-term interests
- How to answer a crucial question, “How do you know who to trust when you’re learning?”
- Dorie’s approach to transitioning from providing free value to pitching and making sales (without upsetting your audience)
- Why Dorie advocates for applying Google’s “20 percent rule” (spending a fifth of your time working on experimental projects that may or may not pay off)
- How to access Dorie’s free “strategic thinking long-game self-assessment” tool
- Dorie’s “wave” framework for approaching entrepreneurial workload (and preserving yourself for the long haul)
Resources
- Dorie’s latest book, The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World
- Dorie’s strategic thinking long-game self-assessment
