'The road less traveled' is a phrase popularised by M.Scott Peck with the book of that title.
The theme is about:
I am using the phrase in the very specific context of the long game which describes an approach to any area of life that sacrifices short term gains for long-term wins.
This is about having a long term goal and taking the necessary steps now to set yourself up for a long term success.
This is rough, tough journey but the rewards are huge.
Playing the long game
The first step to the long game and the acceptance of delayed gratification is the most difficult and negative.
You have to be willing to suffer today in order to reap enormous rewards tomorrow.
The
long game is so hard to play because it involves taking a series of very
small steps, that people rarely see, persistently and consistently over
a long period of time to reach an enormous and visible outcome.
The first question you need to think about is when and where to play the long-term game.
A good choice to play the long game is with things that really matter to you and things that compound such as: knowledge, relationships, and finances.
The second question you have to seriously consider is:
"Are you prepared to pay the cost?"
To do this requires you to ask yourself some very hard questions and to consider the second-order consequences of your decisions - and the key question you will be asking is: "...and then what?"
The immediate effect of this is that you will have to be prepared for the reality that you be less effective, less competent and less efficient in the short term, in order to be much more effective in the long term.
This can be hard and it means being prepared to make a lot of mistakes and errors and even on occasions being prepared to look stupid.
Playing the long game, and paying the price for delayed gratification, is hard enough when you are traveling on a well defined route such as qualifying to be doctor, a lawyer or an academic.
Playing
the long game is doubly difficult when you are traveling on a road less
traveled that is not well defined, where the milestones and metrics are
not known when you start out on this journey.
Examples of the road less traveled are starting a business or any other form of entrepreneurial activity. Other examples could be launching any form of creative or artistic endeavour.
The well defined route is clearly sign posted and has clear markers, metrics and milestones.
You
do the courses, pass your exams and qualify. Then you repeat the whole
exercise several times until you are professionally qualified. Then
your career follows a largely prescribed and predetermined path. Sure
its tough but your direction of travel is very clear and you have clear
milestones to mark your progress and give you the feedback you need to
keep you on track.
On the road less traveled the route is often not clearly defined and does not have clear metrics and milestones.
I started working in the fuel business about 8 years ago - bringing refineries and resellers of refined fuel products [such as Aviation Jet Fuel and industrial use Diesel] together with qualified proceedable buyers. This is a tough business with many fraudsters and time-wasters.
The guy who was mentoring me told me 2 things that have stuck with me:
Firstly he said: "Stephen there is no instruction manual in this job nothing you can read that will train you or tell you what to do or how to do it. The only way to learn is on the job."
Then he said:
"The one thing that differentiates me from most other people in this business is that I am prepared to fail more times."
To put all this into context, over the 4 years that I knew him and worked with him he handled over 1,000 buyer inquiries and secured 9 different contracts with 9 separate Russian refineries of an average value of c$1bn USD per 12 month contract. He personally earned many millions of dollars in commissions. This man walked the talk.
Using some of my experiences over the past 8 years in this job here are a number of key issues that typically you will face on the road less traveled to delayed gratification and some approaches that I have used for dealing with them.
[1] Working Out The Route
[2] Maintaining Your Mental Health And Well-Being
[3] Dealing With Other People
# How can you figure out some useful metrics to know how you are doing on the road less traveled?
# How do you keep going when the going is tough and you are not sure if you are wasting your time on the road less traveled?
# How do you determine the green shoots of progress/recovery from the false dawn of another failure?
# How do you separate and differentiate yourself from the herd?
# How do you cope with the necessary personal and business dependencies on other people on the road less traveled?
# How do you cope when everyone else thinks you’re mad or deluded?
# How do you cope with recurring disappointments and let downs?
# How do you sustain yourself over the long term when it takes 10 to 20 years to succeed?
# How do you stay healthy, positive and sane?
# How much do you tell other people about what you doing?
# How
do you cope with other people’s inability to understand what you are
telling them about what you are doing?
# How do you cope with other people’s recurring disappointment and negativity at your lack of progress?
# How do you cope when other people are doing well and you’re not?
# How do you cope with the feeling of letting your family and those close to you down?
Here are a number of touch points with other key articles on this site:
Next Article:
How To Benefit From The Unseen Margins - 5 Key Tips For Success
Return:
to: Mental Models
Or to: Walking The Talk
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