One of the best sports analogies for life hit me when I was doing incline bench press yesterday.
I almost laughed out loud.
It was Quidditch from Harry Potter.
For men in business, it’s one of the best ways to compare this warped life we have. Warped in the sense that there is no other normal game that suffices.
Most games in the real world are played every year. You can throw a touchdown, hit a double or even a homerun.
In life, you can do many of those same things as well. You can make a good business decision, train well, and find good partners but there are a few key differences.
- In business, you can build systems that work FOR you and hence never have to do that same task again. I suppose that doesn’t apply to quidditch either but the next point does.
- In business you can do one thing so good that you win the game permanently. An example here is any business that takes off and makes it so the owner never has to work again forever.
Like catching the golden snitch, no matter how many ups or downs you’ve had in life. No matter how many times you got the shit beat out of you by those one players, the beaters was it?
No matter how many points scored against you you can still come back and win the game with one good decision.
I love this because so many people are seeking the singles and doubles of life. They’re playing baseball and simply trying to get ahead, only to have to do the same shit next inning, next game and next season.
Caught in a permanent loop of scraping by.
Running on a treadmill. No matter how fast you go it keeps getting faster and faster until you fall off and crash, somewhat embarrassingly.
Fuck that. In this one single life you have, you need to build a system that gives you power and advantage forever.
For me this has been building a personal brand. My Youtube, books, podcast etc. Have any of those ‘won me the game” yet? The answer is no.
I’ve done well. Very well I would say, but I started this brand just two years ago and there is still so much to do. I enjoy the work immensely but I still haven’t caught that damn snitch yet.
I’m working on it every day.
By releasing content that has the potential to get noticed by the right people as well as by thousands if not millions of others, one never knows what one good decision may lead to.
But the point is, stop playing small. Stop sitting on the bleachers (your 9-5 job) and step up to swing.
Build something that can work without you. Build something that has the potential to set yourself free for life.
Go catch that damn snitch, and let me know when you do!
Cheers,
-Spencer Claeys