What game are you playing?
Your “A” game? Your “B” game? or… Dude, I’m not even in the game.
My guess is many of you are B-gaming it. I know, I B-game it as often as anyone. There’s a good chance you might be B-gaming it and you may not even be fully aware of it. Me? I am painfully aware.
The B game is a tricky bastard. It often looks like success. It means you are doing pretty darn well for yourself. You have money, you have recognition. In fact, you are pretty good at what you do. I mean you might even be excellent at what you do, but still… it’s your B game.
The A Game
Now your A game… it’s that thing you’ve always dreamed of doing, but you haven’t yet. Your A game is work only you can do and in the way that only you can do it. It’s your zone of genius. Your A game doesn’t necessarily have to be about your work, although often it is.
Whether it’s work or a way of being in this world, it is you… being full out you. You are leaving nothing on the table. You are delivering work that no one else could possibly deliver. You are living in a way that honors every ounce of your soul. You are giving it your all.
It’s usually that thing you’ve been dreaming of and talking about for years. It’s also that feeling of restlessness and the “more” you are searching for. Those feelings are there to get your attention. They are your call to play your A game.
The A game is what we were born to do. And ironically, that’s exactly why we’re not doing it. For one the B game looks like success and it is at some level. We can easily become too comfortable and complacent there.
And then there are the people who aren’t even in the game. You know those folks, who work 9-5 or much longer and hate their work, complain about it, yet plan to do nothing to change it. They live for the weekend. And my guess is they watch a lot of TV, mindless TV. They live through other people’s lives.
B gamers are in the game! They are up to big stuff. They look successful to other people and themselves. They are comfortable in life. Doing great work. Making a great living. Making some great contribution. But still, it’s the B game.
Our A games aren’t comfortable. They stretch us. They challenge us. And most painful of all, they expose our greatest fears. Our A game is what we hold closest to our heart. So we protect it. It means so much. So much that you will protect it, your ego, and your heart by not doing it. It’s easier to dream about “one day” than to experience the possibility of failing, rejection, or criticism in the here and now.
So instead we play our B game. We do a lot of good stuff. We do a lot of great stuff. We stay busy. So busy we distract ourselves. We use excuses…not enough time, not enough money, maybe when the kids leave home, maybe if I were single, maybe if I were married, maybe if the economy were better, maybe when I know a little more, maybe when I’m a little more ready…
All excuses. All lies we use to comfort ourselves and let ourselves off the hook from bringing our A Game.
But the truth is we are not ever “off the hook” because each year that goes by, each month, each week, each day, each minute ….it is eating at us at a soul level. We can try to fool ourselves, but deep down we feel the truth.
We are NOT living what we came here to live. We are holding back. We are downplaying our potential. We are waiting. We are dying a little bit each day.
I know what my A game is. When I’m playing it, it’s euphoric. I feel alive, engaged, and exhilarated. I feel stretched and challenged. It’s a feeling of immense relief and exhilaration. I feel on purpose, with purpose like never before.
Do you know what you’re A game looks like? Many people don’t know what their A game is. It’s been pushed aside and covered up for far too long. It may need to be discovered. I challenge you… Find you’re a game, then bring it!
Have a great weekend.
TERRY Talks 