Episode 184: The Long Game
/“Playing the long game at a really core level is about...how can we take action today that will make tomorrow better or easier? I think about it as doing a favor for your future self.”
Dorie Clark
“I saw a window maybe of four or five years where I felt I needed to maximize the chances that I was going to meet someone and...that having a family would be back on the cards.”
A lot of people are quitting their jobs at the moment. In the US, more than 12 million people left jobs voluntarily between July and September. They are fed up, burned out after months and months of pandemic working, and some are wondering, what am I doing this for anyway? Is this what I really want to do with my life? If not, what do I want to do instead?
In this show Dorie Clark helps us answer some of those questions, which all involve the need for long-term thinking. She talks about the ideas in her new book, The Long Game: how to be a long-term thinker in a short-term world. We discuss how to carve out time to think about the future, identifying what’s most meaningful to you, and casting off the expectation that you ‘find your passion’ (too much pressure!)
tom waterhouse
We also meet consultant Tom Waterhouse, who had a long-term plan to have a family before it was too late. But realizing his dream meant infuriating his bosses.
Tom is the host of the podcast If I Had Been Born a Girl.
You can also read a transcript of the show.
Further reading: Women and the Liberating Power of No by Anna Holmes in The Atlantic. I mention this in the episode - a great, nuanced piece.
Dorie is offering a free strategic thinking self-assessment that you can download here to find out how much of a long-term thinker you are.