I love the 90-day game. In my world everything is managed in 90-day chunks. We have sales targets for every 90 days. We launch clusters that succeed or fail in a 90-day horizon. When I'm in the 90 days I want to treat the projects like they are life and death. We give everything we have to give.

Thought Leaders Business School is a 12-month program, but it’s broken up into … you guessed it … 90-day chunks. We get together every 90 days to review the last quarter and plan the next one. Everyone in the program launches a new offering every 90 days.

However, there's also the 10-year game, and the 10-year game trumps the 90-day game.

I saw a wonderful movie last week, Take This Waltz, starring Michelle Williams. Where has Michelle Williams been all my life? She was amazing!

One of the things I loved in this movie is that every morning the husband surreptitiously tipped a cup of cold water over the top of the shower curtain while his wife was having a shower. I know – probably revealing a little bit too much about my personality here. The thing is, she didn’t realise it was him – she thought there was something wrong with the shower. And his plan was that when they were 80, he was going to tell her that they have been doing this all their lives. So he was planning a 50-year practical joke! I love that. It’s like the 10-year game.

In your practice, your business, the 10-year game is the long game. It’s achieving financial independence, achieving the positioning you are after, and making the difference you want to make.

So play full out for the 90-day targets and projects, but never sacrifice the 10-year game for the 90-day game. Don’t market so hard to your list to hit this month’s target that you damage the relationships for anything beyond. Don’t do things that hurt your brand or your reputation. And don’t make yourself sick.

Love to hear your thoughts – how do you balance the immediate project and the long-term game? You can leave your comments below.