We talk a lot about the games that we play. The practice game, the black belt game…

I think the key to winning any game is a bit of a paradox. To be 100% in, while remembering it’s all still a game.

In the Thought Leaders model, the very first focus at “White Belt” level, is decision. To commit to the game. Without 100% commitment, you are much less likely to achieve the outcome you are after. The problem with commitment is that many of us fear we run the risk of giving it our best shot and still failing.

My daughter Scarlett has a vivid imagination. On a recent holiday in Queensland, she said to Trish and I that we weren’t her real parents; that her real parents had dropped her off and would be back to pick her up at the end of the holiday.

Throughout the day and throughout dinner we played along with her, pretending we weren’t her parents and that she had just come to visit. But when it came time for bed she became hysterical, crying “I want my real Daddy, I want my real parents!”. She was very upset. What Scarlett had done is make up a game, but then forget that she’d made it up.

I think we all do this. We all forget that this is just a game that we made up.

The key to winning the game is to be 100% committed, while remembering at the end it was just a game. Even if it’s a game that you have given a lot of significance to.