A Game of Two Parts: Sustainability

by | Dec 6, 2019 | Bigger Game

Playing your Bigger Game – what does that even mean?
I recently told you about how I fell in love with a model for how to play big in work and life. So here’s a series of posts to help you get started, and possibly you will fall in love too.
What is the Bigger Game? How do you get on the board game and actually play?

Part 1: what if something happens to you?

One of the things I have come across and a one-person business is that larger organizations are wary of working with a one-person business because of the risk. Who will continue the work if you get sick, have an accident, or die? Can we really put all our eggs in one basket? (it’s one of the reasons I also work with a collective – the other being that it is so much fun working with other brilliant people).

If you step back and look at your Bigger Game, what happens if you are not there? Will it continue? Will it disappear? Will nothing happen? And are you ok with that?
If you want the game to go on, to have a bigger impact, you’ll need to design that into the game.

Part 2: The myth of working tirelessly.

We have heard so many stories about how people have worked tirelessly on their dreams. Didn’t rest, sacrificed a lot, went through a lot of pain, to get to where they are with their dreams.
And there aren’t that many people like this. Because quite frankly, who wants to live that way?

And the dangerous belief that comes along with those stories, is that if you don’t sacrifice it all, you won’t be able to achieve your dreams.
This is the kind of quote that turns my stomach: β€œWorrying about life doesn’t make it any easier, but working tirelessly towards a better lifestyle always does.”

But being tired, worn out, isolated, working all hours, is so counterproductive. We know the stats on how our productivity drops when we don’t take breaks. Is the working towards a better life that makes it easier. The “tirelessly” can go …

So what if you could pursue your dreams, play your bigger game, without almost killing yourself in the process?

What if feeling good, refreshed, and energised was actually vital to your success? (what a shocking thought).
Most of us want to have an impact in the world, we want to contribute, and we want to enjoy life too.
So if we deliberately design our game so that we are sustained, then we will succeed.

Check out the 1 min video for great examples of this.

This is another checkup stop. Here, you think about what you need to do to sustain yourself and your bigger game so that both of you can have a lasting impact.

When you are playing your bigger game, this is an important square to regularly come back to.

What do you need to be sustained enough to play? Do you need a break now? Many of us do this time of year. I’m planning a two-week complete break from all things work, bigger game, etc over Christmas and new year.

Do you need to check how you are eating? What support do you need? What do you need to create or change so that you are not doing all the work on your own?

How sustainable are you and your game right now?

“The funny thing about sustainability is you gotta sustain it”

Ron Finley

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If you like what you see in this series and want to know more, then we have good news. The Bigger Game Event will be coming to Amsterdam in Spring 2020. For more updates and to be the first to know, join our mailing list.

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Maybe you want this list because it’s just about the Bigger Game. Dorothee and I will not be spamming you with other amazing offers. Just Bigger Game stuff.
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