➿ Your Game Never Ends

Here's a question for you to ponder, how do you "win" at life?

Of course, philosophers and theologians have been arguing over the answer for millenia, and the same question is difficult to answer for many of the important things in life. How do you "win" at marriage, parenting, or running a business? For that matter, how do you "win" at building a platform online? The answer is simple: you can't.

At least you can't win the same way you can in a game like soccer or chess, where there are clear rules, clear separation between teams, and a clear score-keeping system so you know which team has won, and when. The difference between these two scenarios is the difference between a finite and infinite game.

This concept is so compelling that Simon Sinek wrote a book on it, appropriately titled The Infinite Game (the same Simon Sinek who wrote the bestselling classic Start with Why).

In an infinite game, there is no clearly defined end of the road. There are no obvious rules, and no clear team loyalties (although you may discover many things don't work well, and some people are clearly not on your team). The way you succeed in an infinite game is to show up, every day, and make progress towards a far-off, ideal destination (one which you may very well never reach).

Set Your Sights on Your Just Cause

Simon calls this your "Just Cause" and it can and should be something inspiring but ultimately unattainable, such as Preemptive Love's mission to "End War" or Charity: Water's mission to give everyone on the planet access to clean drinking water. In your business, your just cause may not be as far-reaching as those two examples, but you have one nonetheless.

What is the cause you are advocating for on behalf of your audience? What is the life you are helping them to live? What is your Just Cause, and what is your Infinite Game? Once you get clarity on that, you can rally your audience around the inspiring cause you are after without getting frustrated by the missing goal posts that came up with taking a finite strategy into an infinite game.