Do you know what game you’re playing?
4 types of games in business
Hi friends,
I recently read Sahil Bloom’s newsletter, and he talked about his struggle with a question. During a call with creators and entrepreneurs, one of the moderator’s questions was:
“What game are you playing?”
He gave a whole spiel about what he was doing, but he failed to answer the question.
After reading that newsletter, I couldn’t stop thinking about whether I knew what game I was playing.
In each stage of our lives, we’re all playing a game.
In school, there was the game of getting good marks to get into a good college or university. In university, there was the game of graduating to get a good job. Then, as you become an adult, there’s the game of increasing your income and improving your status or title.
But once you achieve all of those, what is the game you’re playing? Or if you’re on your own path, how do you know you’re winning?
Luckily, I came across this podcast episode, and the interviewed person talked about the different games you can play in business.
Here are 4 of them.
The artist game. If you have some art or craft that’s completely different from what everyone else is doing, your goal is to do as much of this art as much as possible. Everyone you hire in this business is to remove the friction or the admins so that you can focus on your art. You can do this forever. When I think of this game, I think of people like Brianna Wiest or pure artists such as writers, musicians, painters, actors, and actresses.
The lifestyle game. In this game, your goal is to make a certain monthly amount and try to do that as passively as possible. You try to work as little as possible. You have some money coming in, and you can spend your time doing whatever you want, whether it’s travelling or randomly going to a park on a Wednesday afternoon. The goal of this business is to fund your lifestyle. You can also do this forever. I feel that most creators want to play this game (including myself) as they’re trying to leave their jobs or create their own paths.
The performance game. This game is about seeing what you’re capable of. In this game, you’re prepared to forego elements of your lifestyle because it doesn’t matter as much whether you’re working on a beach one day a week or five days a week or you’re focused on making the most impact or revenue possible. This is another infinite game. Most people in this category are focused on growing their metrics, so Mr. Beast is definitely playing this game.
The build-it-and-sell-it game. This is the only game that isn’t infinite. You go into this game with the goal to get out. Think: services as software start-ups.
I don't know about you, but knowing this is such a relief.
If you tend to be doubtful of your journey or constantly compare yourself with other people's results, knowing what type of game you're playing is crucial.
Different games have different strategies for you to win.
The prizes are also different. An artist's prize may look like spending 40 hours on their art, while a lifestyle business owner's prize is spending 10 hours on their business and spending the other 40 hours focusing on their hobbies, and family.
In short, different games yield different results.
In the past couple of years, I’ve been playing the artist game but expecting the results of a lifestyle game.
I just realized this.
As I’ve said, I recently came across this concept, and it’s something that I need to think more about.
If I were to choose what game I want to play today, I’d pick the lifestyle game—which is to prioritize my lifestyle. My travel nursing job has definitely helped in the lifestyle game. I only worked for three months this year, and I don’t have to go back until next year.
But as a creator, I’m playing the artist game and I'd love to transition into the lifestyle game.
So now, I have to figure out how to make this happen. (If you have, let me know ;))
So once again, I ask you, do you know what game you’re playing?
As always thank you for reading my newsletter, I appreciate you.
And btw, if you need some help in your journey, here are 3 ways I can help you:
Interesting post. I think I’m caught somewhere in between playing the artist game and the lifestyle game.
My biggest challenge is choosing which path to lean more toward.