Do you play infinite games?
to infinity, and beyond!
There are broadly two types of games in the world, finite and infinite.
They differ in a couple of properties:
Finite games are marked with beginnings and endings either temporally or spatially, whereas infinite games have no strict beginnings and endings.
There are clear winners/losers in finite games, but not with infinite games.
The rules of finite games are ‘fixed’, whereas the rules of infinite games continuously evolve.
These types of games crop up in virtually every domain, and can be interpreted in both ways:
University:
Finite: ‘Won’ by graduating, ranking 1st, achieving a certain grade, getting a graduate offer.
Infinite: The pursuit of knowledge is neverending.
Finance/Business:
Finite: Buying a house, achieving a certain savings goal to retire, hitting a certain milestone.
Infinite: The goal is to stay in business.
Relationships:
Finite: Getting married, having kids, etc.
Infinite: The goal is to maintain the desire to play the game of life together.
Health:
Finite: Losing a certain amount of weight,
Infinite: The goal is to stay healthy forever.
This framing can shift a lot of approaches/attitudes towards different goals. E.g:
Instead of cramming and stressing about high marks for exams, focusing instead on the deeper learnings and abstractions in your degree.
Instead of focusing on a certain networth, focusing instead on developing the skills to create value by doing what you love so you never have to stop ‘working’.
Instead of trying to win arguments, trying to instead focus on the resolution to continue playing life together. Finite games are played with seriousness (if you are serious about an argument, winning is attached to your identity), whereas infinite games are played with playfulness (admitting fault is just another step in the story of your relationship with someone)
Instead of going on an unmaintainable diet, instead focusing on making incremental lasting changes to support your health for decades.
Most of these takeaways come from prioritising the process instead of the goal. Finite goals are temporary, losing them can break your morale. There is no losing infinite games, only dropping out by quitting or dying.
You should choose to play infinite games in this finite life.