Play the game

duda • September 3, 2025

Happy Friday you wonderful humans.

[Virtus Performance, Mornington]

We have a saying at football which I feel has wonderful transference to everyday life.

"Play the game"

In life, or in football, you have a desired result, something that you're striving towards. Then the ball is bounced, life happens, and ' The best - laid plans of mice and men often go awry.' No matter how carefully you plan and prepare, there will always be multiple ways things can go wrong.

When the chaos sets in you have two options. You can go to water, or you can play the game. You can react without thinking, or you can respond to your environment.

Achieving the outcome you are striving for is dependant on your ability to assess and reassess the situation at hand. What follows is a simple framework sourced from Naval Ravikant.

Sprint. Rest. Reassess.

I'm paraphrasing here and adapting this in my own way, but to reach the top of our game, in both life and sport, we must train and sprint, then rest, and reassess. Each of these states complements the other, finding balance and cohesion between the three can be the magic potion we all seek.

The sprint where the work is done, the body of work, a time to focus on output. To put your plans and training to the test. The sprint is energy consuming, if you're not careful it can stop you in your tracks, you must manage your resources.

After the sprint, we must find time to rest. This is the time to fill your cup, to go inwards and be kind to yourself. Sleep, meditation, a good meal, every little bit of rest adds to your capacity to sprint harder and longer next time.

We progress through persistence and by utilising our ability to stop and plan where we are headed. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, but without prior thought and planning, you could head in the wrong direction and end up 2000 miles from your intended destination. Your ability to take a step, assess and reassess each subsequent step will ultimately determine where you end up.

Achievement doesn't come easily, show up, put in the work, and be smart about it. Sprint, rest, reassess and don't forget to play the game. Whether you succeed or not, the outcome lies squarely on your shoulders.

Lachie.

"Doctors won?t make you healthy. Nutritionists won?t make you slim. Teachers won?t make you smart. Gurus won?t make you calm. Mentors won?t make you rich. Trainers won?t make you fit. Ultimately, you have to take responsibility. Save yourself." Naval Ravikant.

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