When you’re trying to do something big, don’t play small games.

It sounds obvious, but it’s not. Because the small games are everywhere:

• endless meetings,
• low-leverage activities,
• busy work dressed up as progress.

These things keep you small. They sap your energy. They reduce your impact.

Learning to play big is really the practice of prioritization. It’s learning how to say no to the small. That doesn’t have to mean being rude, or dismissive, or selfish. A “no” can be polite. A “no” can be a courtesy. But it is also a decision: the decision to keep your attention on the “yes” that matters. The bigger deal. The client conversation. The project that empowers your whole team.

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the tug of war on your attention

We live in a world of thrash.

Everywhere you turn, something is vying for your attention. It’s not just a tug of war between two sides—it’s like a 10,000-way tug of war with you in the middle. Every pull feels urgent. Every pull feels necessary.

This is where discernment comes in. Most of what’s on your plate isn’t useless. Usually, you’re choosing between many useful things. That’s what makes it hard.

But if you try to say yes to everything, you’re not playing big. You’re just playing scattered.

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not all hours are created equal

I always go back to what the productivity folks say—Stephen Covey, Tim Ferriss, James Clear, the list goes on. They all converge on the same point: you need focus to be effective.

And not just “focus” in 10-minute bursts. Real focus. Hours at a time. Because most meaningful work doesn’t happen in increments of 5 or 15 minutes—it happens when you can stay locked in for 90, 120 minutes or more.

The problem? Look at your calendar. Most people’s days are packed wall to wall, with maybe a thin lunch break as the only white space.

If your day looks like that, you’re not playing big. You’re playing defense.

And here’s the truth: you can’t brute force your way out of it. You can’t sit through 11 hours of meetings and then expect to knock out another two hours of deep, high-quality work at night. That’s a fantasy. That’s treating your body like a machine you can just run harder, when in reality it’s an unsustainable and clumsy algorithm.

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play the right game

If you want to play big, you have to be strategic with your hours.

• Guard your best hours—whether that’s morning, afternoon, or night.
• Protect that time like a scarce resource.
• Say no to the meetings and distractions that keep you small.

Remember: everyone is trying to pull you into their own game. They want you to play on their turf, to spend your energy on their priorities.

But you only get one body. One mind. One set of hours in the day.

So choose wisely.

Don’t let yourself get pulled into every tug of war. Don’t let your day get eaten alive by small games.

Play big. That’s the only game worth playing.