Accomplishing something extraordinary involves doing things that other people won’t.

One way to do this is to be different. It allows you to naturally do things others won’t. An extreme example of this is being a Keyser Soze.

Another way is to choose the long game.

When people think long game, they often imagine the brilliant long-term strategist. The person one that sees the whole chess game, not just the next few moves. They see Francis Underwood from House of Cards.

This is one way to do it, but there is a far simpler way to play the long game.

Most people want stuff, but they don’t want it that badly. What they really want is a quick solution to their problem; the get rich quick scheme, the tips and tricks to a one night stand, the “lose 15 pounds in a month” program, the 6-week dev bootcamp, or acceptance into a 3-month startup accelerator.

The easiest way to distance yourself from others is to figure out what you really want, and then commit for the long term. Look at what other people will do and then commit yourself to double, triple, quadruple, 10x, or 100x it. The longer you go, the more the others will just fade in to the backdrop. They can’t help but fade away because they weren’t playing the same game as you.

This approach requires no genius. It only requires being relentless, something that anyone can start doing if they decide to.

Be Will Smith.

And who knows? As you continue, you just may just come up with your Keyser Soze or your Francis Underwood moves. Those will just become the cherry on top.

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P.S. This is post number #24 in a 100 day blogging challenge. See you tomorrow!

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