“In life the challenge is not so much to figure out how best to play the game; the challenge is to figure out what game you’re playing.” – Kwame Anthony Appiah
Imagine the game of your life is being played out in a towering skyscraper.
You enter the first floor, and look around.
“What are the rules of this game,” you wonder, “and how do I win?
Everywhere you look, little pockets of people are carving out their own cozy corner of the first floor:
Teaming up with a few others, setting up camp, activating their Netflix subscriptions, and living out their lives in safety and comfort.
“Come join us,” they say, “this is how you should play the game.”
It’s a tempting offer, at first:
Setting up your own little camp, finding a job a to keep yourself occupied and a partner to keep yourself satisfied and maybe a second or third streaming service for when Netflix goes stale.
Then, a small, quiet voice inside asks:
“Isn’t there more to this game?”
And you know that if you stop here, you’ll be asking that same question for the rest of your life.
So, with butterflies in your stomach and excitement in your heart, you strike out into the deeper territories of the first floor.
It doesn’t take long to realize the small, quiet voice was right.
Just outside the crowd of mini-camps are several larger camps, led by explorers like you who weren’t afraid to go searching for more.
These camps are flashier, fancier, and surrounded by crowds of admirers.
Your excitement nearly overflows:
“I could create my own camp just like this! But bigger! And flashier! And fancier! And with ALL of the streaming services!”
So you begin building.
It’s difficult, at first…
…And in the toughest moments, you wonder if you should have just settled down with a job and a partner and, you know what, Netflix is probably more than enough anyway…
…But you persevere, and your dream-camp slowly takes shape.
And damn, what a camp it is:
Not only do you have all of the streaming services, but you have a TV in every room to watch them on, with the slickest surround-sound around.
Admirers gaze upon your slice of paradise and ask you how you did it:
How did you have the courage to say no to a mini-camp and yes to a mega-camp — and man, how you get all them channels, you got a VPN or something?
You’re living the dream.
Right?
Right…
Well, probably.
Maybe, sort of…
…Until you switch the surround-sound off for the night, and your admirers go home to rest.
That’s when your camp goes quiet, and you can once again hear that small, quiet voice inside, asking:
“Isn’t there more to this game?”
At first, you try to ignore it:
To drown it out by building an even bigger camp, with even more admirers, more channels, more surround sound streaming — more, uh… More!
But the voice only grows louder, until you can no longer ignore it, and the realization crashes in around you:
“I still haven’t left the first floor.”
You still want to ignore it, but the explorer within you knows you don’t have a choice.
So you steel your mind once again, and strike out into the deep unknown…
…Towards the dark, abandoned section of the first floor that only a rare few ever dare to go near:
The elevator.
Slowly, cautiously, you make your way towards it.
You approach the doors and step inside.
You move to press the “UP” button, and stop.
Deep within, that small, quiet voice is speaking to you again.
It says:
“With new levels come new challenges.”
In a flash of insight, you realize:
To ascend, I must become greater than I was on the first floor.
To play bigger games, I must become a better player; to play at higher levels, I must level-up.
Suddenly, those small, petty first-floor games — who has the biggest camp, the most admirers, the slickest streaming setup — feel like childish distractions from the real game:
The game of ascension.
Not the game of winning the level you’re on, but the game of seeing how high you can climb, and what level you can reach.
Not the game of what you can get, but the game of who you can become.
Through the open doors of the elevator, you take one last look at the first floor:
At the endless sea of mini-camps, cozy and comfortable, and the small cities of mega-camps, flashy and loud…
…And for the first time, you realize they’re all playing the same game, just at different scales.
Excitement fills your spirit as you wonder what game is waiting for you on the second floor — and, beyond.
And, more importantly:
Who you will become in your process of upward ascension.
This is it.
You take a deep breath, and press the “UP” button.
As the elevator doors close, that small, quiet voice whispers:
The game has just begun.
– T
P.S. Whew, that was quite a ride.
Longer than usual, but I had a lot of fun with it.
I hope you did too.
Tomorrow, we’re going to build on this skyscraper analogy with a shorter, more practical lesson on this concept of:
Horizontal Growth vs Vertical Growth
Or, if you prefer:
Winning the level you’re at v.s. Ascending to higher levels.
This concept is fundamental to the work we do inside The Path, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts:
What insights did today’s email spark for you?
Hit reply to let me know, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow.
