51. Playing the Long Game
In a time of instant gratification with the presence of the internet and social media, we have collectively started to expect things to happen as fast as the click of a button. I mean, who doesn’t want instantaneous results, right?
While playing the short game gives us dopamine hits that feel amazing, the truth is that the trade isn’t worth it when you’re working towards a goal in your business. Instead, the long-game mindset is the secret to any type of success you want to create in any area of life or business, and I’m showing you how to adopt this approach.
Join me this week to discover what playing the long game means and why committing yourself to the long game matters. You’ll hear how I use the long-game approach in my own business, why the long game gives you compounded results, and my top tips for how you can apply this principle to your own interior design business.
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What You’ll Discover from this Episode:
What playing the long game means.
How we expect instant results from new practices or initiatives we put in place.
Why playing the long game is the secret to getting the success you want.
How I play the long game in my business.
Examples of how to apply the principle of playing the long game to your interior design business.
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Full Episode Transcript:
Hey designer, you’re listening to episode 51. In this one I’m going to be talking about playing the long game in your interior design business, it’s really the secret to any type of success you want to create.
Welcome to The Interior Design Business CEO, the only show for designers who are ready to confidently run and grow their businesses without the stress and anxiety. If you’re ready to develop a bigger vision for your interior design business, free up your time, and streamline your days for productivity and profit, you’re in the right place. I’m Desi Creswell, an award-winning interior designer and certified life and business coach. I help interior designers just like you stop feeling overwhelmed so they can build profitable businesses they love to run. Are you ready to confidently lead your business, clients, and projects? Let’s go.
Hello, designer. Welcome back to the podcast. It is a beautiful day here in Minneapolis, and I hope you’re having a beautiful day as well. We are, as in my daughter and I and my fellow troop leader. We are getting ready for our Girl Scout troop meeting this evening. It’s our first one of the year, we took the summer off with a few fun activities sprinkled in.
I’m actually one of the troop leaders, we co-lead it together. And it’s kind of fun. The other leader, she is a designer. I should say a former interior designer as well. And it’s kind of fun, we ended up crossing paths because our girls became friends at school. And as we started to get to know each other better and were just chatting, it turns out, one, we didn’t know that we were both designers. So that was the first coincidence.
And then it turns out that actually we lived and worked in Chicago at the same time, and then moved to Minnesota with our husbands, who are both in a similar field. And that was around the same time period as well. And then, of course, we didn’t meet until our daughters connected in first grade. So I just love things like that.
Today we’re doing actually the ceremony where the girls transition from being daisies to being brownies. And I didn’t have daisies when I was a kid, it just didn’t exist, so if you are like, “I don’t know what that is.” But were any of you brownies? I was a brownie. I had no badges though. I was like the defunct brownie.
I was not good at selling the cookies and was so afraid to go to people’s doors. And it was actually kind of funny. I found my old brownie sash when I was in college and needed a Halloween costume and was actually a brownie, a grown up brownie for Halloween. It was cute, I kind of want to dig up some pictures of it now. But anyways, that is a total tangent that I just took you on. Thank you for staying with me.
Today we’re going to be talking about playing the long game in your business. I’m going to share an example of how I play the long game. And, of course, let you know what the long game is. And this podcast is actually an excellent example of how I play the long game in my business and I’m going to use that to show you how you can apply the principle of the long game to your own interior design business.
Before we dive in, I want to give a shout out to another podcast reviewer. It says, “So many great insights and actionable advice. This podcast is the next best thing to having a design business coach. A must listen if you run your own interior design business.” And I just love, love, love, love this review because it’s so fun. It’s just like exactly what I picture is me coaching you in your ear when you’re listening. So thank you so much for leaving that review.
And a reminder to all of you, I have a giveaway going on right now where you can leave me a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. So just in the app, scroll down to the bottom, tap the five stars and leave a quick review. And then submit just a really simple form to let me know how to contact you to enter a giveaway.
And that giveaway is to win a private coaching session with me. So you enter the giveaway, quickly just tell me how to get in contact, leave that rating and review. And as a show of appreciation for your helping to support the podcast, you will be entered to win a private coaching session with me that you can use however you like. The link will be in the show notes for that form.
All right, let’s dive into talking about playing the long game in your business. And, of course, we need to define what the long game is so that we’re on the same page. And really, this is just actions that you take or resources you devote today that will grow in impact when done over an extended period of time.
They’re actions you’re taking or resources you’re devoting that are going to compound. You’re going to maybe see a little bit of a result in the short term, but it’s really about recognizing that what you’re doing now is going to grow and impact you greater and greater as you do it for longer and longer.
The long game is kind of like having a garden, where you’re going to plant some seeds. And that means investing money in the seeds and you probably have to buy some dirt and tools for the planting. Maybe some little shovels or one of those squishy knee pads. Maybe you’re putting some screening around the plants so that other animals don’t eat them as they grow.
You’re putting your physical energy into digging around in the dirt and planting the seeds and watering the seeds. And you’re taking time to tend to the plants, to water them, to pull out the weeds on a regular basis. Let’s say you’re planting a tomato seed, or lots of tomato seeds.
And if I were to ask you, “Hey, you just planted that seed, are you going to have a whole crop of ripe tomatoes tomorrow?” You would all say no, of course not. That doesn’t make any sense. Except that’s often what we expect of new initiatives or practices that we’re putting in place in our routines and habits, and in our business as a whole.
You know that you’re not going to have a ripe tomato to eat the day after you plant the seed. But if you give the seed what it needs, you nurture it with your resources, you eventually will have a harvest. And what seems small and insignificant, putting that little bit of water on, making sure that the animals stay out of the dirt and pulling out the weeds to make sure that the plants aren’t crowded out by the things that aren’t supposed to be there, it really compounds. It adds up. It turns into so much more than that tiny seed.
This is the same thing that happens when you play the long game in your business. We are in a time of such instant gratification with social media and the internet, we start to expect everything to happen as fast as the click of a button. And let’s be real, we have the desire for instantaneous results. It would be a lot easier if you went to one marketing event, met a new architect, they were dying to work with you and the next day they sent you your dream project.
Sometimes this happens, but not always. And often, we need to have an extended period of time where we are putting ourselves out there, where we are developing relationships in our marketing in order to see those dream projects come to us through referrals. So while it might happen that you have an instantaneous connection and referral, that’s not always what happens.
And that’s why we want to be playing the long game, because if we expect the instantaneous result and we don’t get it, we’re going to think Well, that didn’t work, why bother? I’m not going to do that again. But if we remember, hey, I’m playing the long game, we’re not going to expect those results immediately and we’re going to keep at it. And that, my friend, is exactly what gets you the results you want.
In all areas of creating success, whether that is improving your personal health or the health of your business, you need to approach your goals with the long game mindset as you progress. I’m going to give you some examples of how you might play the long game in your own interior design business.
One of these would be time management. Day one of time blocking or setting priorities might be a complete flop. You make the plan, you don’t follow the plan. But if you keep sticking with the tools and principles, like the ones that I teach in Out Of Overwhelm, if you stick with it, you will take control of your schedule. And the more you’re willing to play the long game of time management, the faster those changes happen.
Another example would be systems. If you’re willing to put in the effort now to organize your process and set it up so it’s repeatable and consistent for you and the client, you will create time, you’re going to make more money, and you’re going to create a better experience for your clients, which means repeat business and referrals. You’re taking the time now to organize your process and set up the systems for the future benefit that will continue for years and years.
Another example of this is working with a coach. I, of course, see this with my clients where they start feeling better immediately when they start working with me. And we’re also working on long term goals that are building on each other and they’re going to see the results of that over a few months, or possibly six months.
And then what I love to think about when I coach my clients is, it’s not just the results that we’re creating when we’re working together. It’s the impact of the mindset and the strategy that we put in place and they continue to nurture far beyond when we work together. So the long game is the impact of that coaching forever in who you become.
I think you’re getting the idea here, but let me give you some other ideas. So there’s hiring and leadership, definitely the long game. Joining a program or taking a course. Setting up software to support your processes. Or marketing, right?
You’re not going to go post on social once and then expect to build a brand. But over time, if you consistently post, your style becomes recognizable. You refine your messaging. You experiment with different ways to call people to action and ask them to book a call with you or share your posts. You implement some strategies for potential clients to find you. If you’re playing the long game in marketing, you will gain traction.
And to be clear, this is not saying do something forever that’s not working and never adjust, we’ll talk about that later. But I wanted to give you some examples of how you might play the long game in your business and I also wanted to share an example of how I played the long game in my business.
We’re coming up on the one year anniversary of me starting this podcast, The Interior Design Business CEO. Starting last fall and now consistently creating content for the podcast is an example of me playing the long game in my business.
If you’ve been following me, you have heard me talk about the importance of your business and life vision. And I’ll link that in the show notes if you want to get the download where I can walk you through the process of creating your own vision. It’s located at Desiid, like Desi interior design.com/vision, but it’ll be linked in the show notes, where you can download the Business & Life Vision Journal and actually create your own.
I’ve also got an episode on this. So I’m not going to go in depth on what the business and life vision is, but really it is an overarching vision or idea of how you’re going to grow your business and also what your goals are personally so that the two areas that are so important to you are going to work in tandem versus working in opposition.
So you’re going to use that business and life vision and use that to set your yearly goal, which I highly recommend that be an income goal. And then use that yearly goal to create quarterly projects that are then going to move you towards achieving that yearly goal.
This podcast was one of the projects that I focused on last year. And when I committed to this podcast, I made a one year commitment to myself. This was really a contract between me and me. And I’ve been evaluating along the way, of course. And if anything was totally off or I had a circumstance drastically change where I needed to redirect my resources, I would have absolutely given myself this permission. But this was a one year commitment that I took very seriously as a part of playing the long game in my business.
I made this commitment very intentionally. This was going to be a new layer of marketing that I was bringing into the business and I did not want to put the pressure on it to perform in the short game. This is also paired with the decision to stop creating content on Instagram. And so I just want to highlight that to let you notice that I did redirect my resources. I was adding in a quite large project to get this off the ground, while simultaneously I took something off my plate to really create that additional space.
I wanted to have this platform, the podcast, to share my ideas and tools and concepts in a way that I enjoyed more than trying to do those bite-sized things on Instagram. And I also knew that the podcast was going to be more valuable for you.
I know that so many of my clients began working with me after hearing me on a podcast where I did an interview on another show. So I already knew that this was a way my ideal client liked to interact with me. And it was part of their client journey of being initially introduced to me, learning what I was all about and then making the decision to eventually work with me.
I knew when I made that one year commitment to doing this podcast, I knew it was going to take some time for the podcast to gain traction and to start to see the results that I wanted, which is of course working with clients that I adore and also making a contribution to the design industry. That’s been something that I’ve always felt really passionate about and I’ve been thinking about deeply lately, in terms of what is that movement that I want to create. And a movement isn’t going to happen in a second.
So that’s why I set this year-long commitment. I want to share a little bit more about the reasoning for that year-long commitment and planning to play the long game with it in my business. It might not be a podcast for you, but whatever you’re thinking about, I gave some examples at the start, of how you’re going to play the long game, you can apply all of these reasonings to whatever it is that you are embarking on.
So the first reason why I wanted this to be a long game was because it helped me set expectations with myself. It helped me keep motivated. When I didn’t have a gazillion downloads the first week, it was fine. I knew that wasn’t a problem. I wasn’t expecting that level of listenership at the beginning and I knew that I was going to keep working on building the number of people who tune in every week and build momentum.
And remember, I said one of the reasons for starting this podcast is, of course, to nurture all of you, those who will never work with me but also those who will become my clients. And when I started the podcast, it was right before an Out Of Overwhelm launch and I had the expectation that maybe people would hear the podcast and then want to join Out Of Overwhelm. But I also didn’t have the expectation, or wasn’t riding on that as my main marketing source to have people join the program.
And this was really important, because as the podcast has grown – And thank you all for sharing it. I so, so appreciate that – I’m really just now, maybe even just from a few months ago, starting to have people mention the podcast when they start to reach out and want to work with me, and start to mention it when maybe I am on another person’s platform sharing my work. And they’re like, “Oh yeah, I love your podcast.” Starting to get more reviews consistently, right?
And so it gave me space to figure this whole podcast thing out. It lessened the pressure by setting those expectations that this is a long game. No one episode was going to make or break me, so I had the flexibility to play and to experiment.
Another reason I wanted this to have the long game mindset is because then I was able to budget for the long game, both in terms of my time and money. There’s time that I spend weekly preparing and recording these episodes for you. And there are resources devoted to paying my assistant to help me promote the podcast. And then I invest in a top notch production company because I want the sound quality to be excellent for you.
If I were to look at the resources devoted in one week, it’s something, but it’s just one part of my week. But if I look at the resources, time and money, that I devote to this project over the year, it’s quite significant. And so I needed to plan for that both in how I was structuring my schedule and how I was structuring my budget for the year.
Another reason to play the long game is because it gives you a clear point at which you will re-decide. So I gave myself that one year timeframe. Often we embark on something new and spend so much energy and time going back and forth in our minds about if we should be doing something, if we should be doing something else, if it’s working, should I keep doing it, right? And that kind of goes back to the setting of the expectations.
If I hadn’t committed to the year, I could have been one month in just flip flopping all over the place. It would start affecting my enthusiasm for creating the content. I would have been spending so much time thinking about should I or shouldn’t I do it, and having so much brain drama, it would have just drained me and taken my focus away from making this podcast the best that I can.
And I also want to highlight, this is very different than having a consistent evaluation process. It’s not that I said, well, this is the long game and so I’m going to do this for a year and not pay any attention to the stats or if people are paying attention or how I’m going to market it.
I’m going to evaluate. I’m going to adjust course. I’m going to learn from what I’m doing and what’s working and what’s not working. But I’m also committed to it being a year so I’m not entertaining the ideas of quitting all the time.
So that’s an example for me around the podcast. And to adopt this long game approach in your business, you can really take any initiative or project and apply what I just shared. Playing the long game is also going to require a few other things, and I’m going to outline those here for you.
The very first is to stop playing the short game. This is the most obvious, but I want to call it out because the way that our brain works, you’re going to be tempted to trade short-term dopamine hits for long-term satisfaction.
Now, in the moment that always feels like, yeah, I’m going to take that dopamine. But the trade is never worth it when you’re working toward a goal in your business. It’s just not. It’s going to seem like it in the moment, our brain is most concerned with seeking pleasure and avoiding effort. But it’s never, never worth it in the long run. Long term satisfaction, fulfillment and pride in what you’re able to create is always worth it.
There are always going to be things that you want to put off because they appear difficult or you might not get it right the first time. And that can be discouraging and disappointing, and I totally get that. And that’s why it’s so important to learn to manage yourself, which really means managing your mind around the short and long-term gains.
This can be especially challenging because the short-term effects of playing the short game usually aren’t that apparent or severe. For example, a few minutes scrolling through social instead of creating your own content, right? Not the end of the world on that Monday when it happens. But when you look at those short game moments over time, the negative effects, like the loss of time, focusing more on someone else’s business than your own, it really starts to compound.
Quitting, the short game also includes putting an end to method hopping. Meaning I’m going to try this method and that method and that method, and maybe that’ll work better Oh, I heard so and so say this, maybe I should try that. Or looking for those shortcuts or shiny objects that present themselves in a way of “this is going to solve everything in the next five minutes.” Rarely do those exist.
Example, again, would be time management. Hopping from one method to another, to one planner, to one notebook, to one task management software. We have to have time for things to gain traction. And, of course, like I keep reminding you, we’re going to have that consistent evaluation built into the long game so that we can really reap the benefits of the long game.
So to play the long game, I’m going to give you a recap here, we need to have that vision, your business and life vision. You need to have clear goals and a specific plan that supports the vision. You want to know what you want to get out of the long game you’re playing. Very, very important, so there’s the intention behind the action.
And then you need consistent action taking, set points to assess your progress and evaluate and then make adjustments. And then a date to re-decide. That is essentially when you’re renewing your commitment. It’s when you’ve gone through that initial commitment period and you’re re-deciding, am I going to continue to engage with the project or initiative in this way? Or am I going to adjust course in a more significant way or drop this from my plan?
If you’re willing to play the long game, this will be the source of your success in your business, and that’s because most people aren’t willing to stick with something long enough to get the results they want. But you are a designer, you know you’re investing now to create the future you want personally and professionally.
This week, I want you to explore a couple of questions as you go about your day and are interacting with your business. First question is very simple: Am I playing the long game or the short game? Just ask yourself, become aware of your patterns.
And then the second one is really meant to use this concept of the long game to inform your decisions and actions. So you can ask yourself, if I make this decision, or take this action, what are the results as they compound? And more importantly, what do I think about that compound impact on my business? You may like what happens or you may not. And you can use that to decide on purpose what your next steps are.
I know we’re only a couple of weeks into October, but we really are at the start and into quarter four. And now really is the time to start thinking about what long game you’re going to be playing in 2024 next year. Now is the time to start planning for your goals and commitments. Not just thinking about what am I going to do next week, but what am I going to create for the future of my business?
I would love to help you with this work in your business. And I invite you to check the link out in the show notes for one on one coaching. One on one coaching is a private coaching partnership where we work through your vision, your goals, we make a plan, we take consistent action, we set you up to do all of the things that are involved in the long game. And I am there to support you through at all, whether that is on our live sessions or all of the between session support that you have access to.
There is a link in the show notes where you can get additional information on Designed To Thrive private coaching partnerships, and also schedule your complimentary consultation. I want to see you thrive and hit your goals and have the life that you also love living in 2024, and support you in doing that. So I invite you to play the long game with me.
That is what I have for you today. I’ll be back next week, of course, with another episode. And until then, I’m wishing you a beautiful week. I’ll talk to you soon.
Have you ever wished I could be your coach? If so, keep listening. For a limited time when you leave a rating and review for the podcast you’ll be entered to win a one on one coaching session with me. I can answer your questions and coach you on your unique challenges.
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Thanks for joining me for this week’s episode of The Interior Design Business CEO. If you want more tips, tools and strategies visit www.desicreswell.com. And if you’re ready to take what you’ve learned on the podcast to the next level, I would love for you to check out my signature group coaching program, Out of Overwhelm.
Welcome to The Interior Design Business CEO, the only show for designers who are ready to confidently run and grow their businesses without the stress and anxiety. If you’re ready to develop a bigger vision for your interior design business, free up your time, and streamline your days for productivity and profit, you’re in the right place. I’m Desi Creswell, an award-winning interior designer and certified life and business coach. I help interior designers just like you stop feeling overwhelmed so they can build profitable businesses they love to run. Are you ready to confidently lead your business, clients, and projects? Let’s go.
Hello, designer. Welcome back to the podcast. It is a beautiful day here in Minneapolis, and I hope you’re having a beautiful day as well. We are, as in my daughter and I and my fellow troop leader. We are getting ready for our Girl Scout troop meeting this evening. It’s our first one of the year, we took the summer off with a few fun activities sprinkled in.
I’m actually one of the troop leaders, we co-lead it together. And it’s kind of fun. The other leader, she is a designer. I should say a former interior designer as well. And it’s kind of fun, we ended up crossing paths because our girls became friends at school. And as we started to get to know each other better and were just chatting, it turns out, one, we didn’t know that we were both designers. So that was the first coincidence.
And then it turns out that actually we lived and worked in Chicago at the same time, and then moved to Minnesota with our husbands, who are both in a similar field. And that was around the same time period as well. And then, of course, we didn’t meet until our daughters connected in first grade. So I just love things like that.
Today we’re doing actually the ceremony where the girls transition from being daisies to being brownies. And I didn’t have daisies when I was a kid, it just didn’t exist, so if you are like, “I don’t know what that is.” But were any of you brownies? I was a brownie. I had no badges though. I was like the defunct brownie.
I was not good at selling the cookies and was so afraid to go to people’s doors. And it was actually kind of funny. I found my old brownie sash when I was in college and needed a Halloween costume and was actually a brownie, a grown up brownie for Halloween. It was cute, I kind of want to dig up some pictures of it now. But anyways, that is a total tangent that I just took you on. Thank you for staying with me.
Today we’re going to be talking about playing the long game in your business. I’m going to share an example of how I play the long game. And, of course, let you know what the long game is. And this podcast is actually an excellent example of how I play the long game in my business and I’m going to use that to show you how you can apply the principle of the long game to your own interior design business.
Before we dive in, I want to give a shout out to another podcast reviewer. It says, “So many great insights and actionable advice. This podcast is the next best thing to having a design business coach. A must listen if you run your own interior design business.” And I just love, love, love, love this review because it’s so fun. It’s just like exactly what I picture is me coaching you in your ear when you’re listening. So thank you so much for leaving that review.
And a reminder to all of you, I have a giveaway going on right now where you can leave me a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. So just in the app, scroll down to the bottom, tap the five stars and leave a quick review. And then submit just a really simple form to let me know how to contact you to enter a giveaway.
And that giveaway is to win a private coaching session with me. So you enter the giveaway, quickly just tell me how to get in contact, leave that rating and review. And as a show of appreciation for your helping to support the podcast, you will be entered to win a private coaching session with me that you can use however you like. The link will be in the show notes for that form.
All right, let’s dive into talking about playing the long game in your business. And, of course, we need to define what the long game is so that we’re on the same page. And really, this is just actions that you take or resources you devote today that will grow in impact when done over an extended period of time.
They’re actions you’re taking or resources you’re devoting that are going to compound. You’re going to maybe see a little bit of a result in the short term, but it’s really about recognizing that what you’re doing now is going to grow and impact you greater and greater as you do it for longer and longer.
The long game is kind of like having a garden, where you’re going to plant some seeds. And that means investing money in the seeds and you probably have to buy some dirt and tools for the planting. Maybe some little shovels or one of those squishy knee pads. Maybe you’re putting some screening around the plants so that other animals don’t eat them as they grow.
You’re putting your physical energy into digging around in the dirt and planting the seeds and watering the seeds. And you’re taking time to tend to the plants, to water them, to pull out the weeds on a regular basis. Let’s say you’re planting a tomato seed, or lots of tomato seeds.
And if I were to ask you, “Hey, you just planted that seed, are you going to have a whole crop of ripe tomatoes tomorrow?” You would all say no, of course not. That doesn’t make any sense. Except that’s often what we expect of new initiatives or practices that we’re putting in place in our routines and habits, and in our business as a whole.
You know that you’re not going to have a ripe tomato to eat the day after you plant the seed. But if you give the seed what it needs, you nurture it with your resources, you eventually will have a harvest. And what seems small and insignificant, putting that little bit of water on, making sure that the animals stay out of the dirt and pulling out the weeds to make sure that the plants aren’t crowded out by the things that aren’t supposed to be there, it really compounds. It adds up. It turns into so much more than that tiny seed.
This is the same thing that happens when you play the long game in your business. We are in a time of such instant gratification with social media and the internet, we start to expect everything to happen as fast as the click of a button. And let’s be real, we have the desire for instantaneous results. It would be a lot easier if you went to one marketing event, met a new architect, they were dying to work with you and the next day they sent you your dream project.
Sometimes this happens, but not always. And often, we need to have an extended period of time where we are putting ourselves out there, where we are developing relationships in our marketing in order to see those dream projects come to us through referrals. So while it might happen that you have an instantaneous connection and referral, that’s not always what happens.
And that’s why we want to be playing the long game, because if we expect the instantaneous result and we don’t get it, we’re going to think Well, that didn’t work, why bother? I’m not going to do that again. But if we remember, hey, I’m playing the long game, we’re not going to expect those results immediately and we’re going to keep at it. And that, my friend, is exactly what gets you the results you want.
In all areas of creating success, whether that is improving your personal health or the health of your business, you need to approach your goals with the long game mindset as you progress. I’m going to give you some examples of how you might play the long game in your own interior design business.
One of these would be time management. Day one of time blocking or setting priorities might be a complete flop. You make the plan, you don’t follow the plan. But if you keep sticking with the tools and principles, like the ones that I teach in Out Of Overwhelm, if you stick with it, you will take control of your schedule. And the more you’re willing to play the long game of time management, the faster those changes happen.
Another example would be systems. If you’re willing to put in the effort now to organize your process and set it up so it’s repeatable and consistent for you and the client, you will create time, you’re going to make more money, and you’re going to create a better experience for your clients, which means repeat business and referrals. You’re taking the time now to organize your process and set up the systems for the future benefit that will continue for years and years.
Another example of this is working with a coach. I, of course, see this with my clients where they start feeling better immediately when they start working with me. And we’re also working on long term goals that are building on each other and they’re going to see the results of that over a few months, or possibly six months.
And then what I love to think about when I coach my clients is, it’s not just the results that we’re creating when we’re working together. It’s the impact of the mindset and the strategy that we put in place and they continue to nurture far beyond when we work together. So the long game is the impact of that coaching forever in who you become.
I think you’re getting the idea here, but let me give you some other ideas. So there’s hiring and leadership, definitely the long game. Joining a program or taking a course. Setting up software to support your processes. Or marketing, right?
You’re not going to go post on social once and then expect to build a brand. But over time, if you consistently post, your style becomes recognizable. You refine your messaging. You experiment with different ways to call people to action and ask them to book a call with you or share your posts. You implement some strategies for potential clients to find you. If you’re playing the long game in marketing, you will gain traction.
And to be clear, this is not saying do something forever that’s not working and never adjust, we’ll talk about that later. But I wanted to give you some examples of how you might play the long game in your business and I also wanted to share an example of how I played the long game in my business.
We’re coming up on the one year anniversary of me starting this podcast, The Interior Design Business CEO. Starting last fall and now consistently creating content for the podcast is an example of me playing the long game in my business.
If you’ve been following me, you have heard me talk about the importance of your business and life vision. And I’ll link that in the show notes if you want to get the download where I can walk you through the process of creating your own vision. It’s located at Desiid, like Desi interior design.com/vision, but it’ll be linked in the show notes, where you can download the Business & Life Vision Journal and actually create your own.
I’ve also got an episode on this. So I’m not going to go in depth on what the business and life vision is, but really it is an overarching vision or idea of how you’re going to grow your business and also what your goals are personally so that the two areas that are so important to you are going to work in tandem versus working in opposition.
So you’re going to use that business and life vision and use that to set your yearly goal, which I highly recommend that be an income goal. And then use that yearly goal to create quarterly projects that are then going to move you towards achieving that yearly goal.
This podcast was one of the projects that I focused on last year. And when I committed to this podcast, I made a one year commitment to myself. This was really a contract between me and me. And I’ve been evaluating along the way, of course. And if anything was totally off or I had a circumstance drastically change where I needed to redirect my resources, I would have absolutely given myself this permission. But this was a one year commitment that I took very seriously as a part of playing the long game in my business.
I made this commitment very intentionally. This was going to be a new layer of marketing that I was bringing into the business and I did not want to put the pressure on it to perform in the short game. This is also paired with the decision to stop creating content on Instagram. And so I just want to highlight that to let you notice that I did redirect my resources. I was adding in a quite large project to get this off the ground, while simultaneously I took something off my plate to really create that additional space.
I wanted to have this platform, the podcast, to share my ideas and tools and concepts in a way that I enjoyed more than trying to do those bite-sized things on Instagram. And I also knew that the podcast was going to be more valuable for you.
I know that so many of my clients began working with me after hearing me on a podcast where I did an interview on another show. So I already knew that this was a way my ideal client liked to interact with me. And it was part of their client journey of being initially introduced to me, learning what I was all about and then making the decision to eventually work with me.
I knew when I made that one year commitment to doing this podcast, I knew it was going to take some time for the podcast to gain traction and to start to see the results that I wanted, which is of course working with clients that I adore and also making a contribution to the design industry. That’s been something that I’ve always felt really passionate about and I’ve been thinking about deeply lately, in terms of what is that movement that I want to create. And a movement isn’t going to happen in a second.
So that’s why I set this year-long commitment. I want to share a little bit more about the reasoning for that year-long commitment and planning to play the long game with it in my business. It might not be a podcast for you, but whatever you’re thinking about, I gave some examples at the start, of how you’re going to play the long game, you can apply all of these reasonings to whatever it is that you are embarking on.
So the first reason why I wanted this to be a long game was because it helped me set expectations with myself. It helped me keep motivated. When I didn’t have a gazillion downloads the first week, it was fine. I knew that wasn’t a problem. I wasn’t expecting that level of listenership at the beginning and I knew that I was going to keep working on building the number of people who tune in every week and build momentum.
And remember, I said one of the reasons for starting this podcast is, of course, to nurture all of you, those who will never work with me but also those who will become my clients. And when I started the podcast, it was right before an Out Of Overwhelm launch and I had the expectation that maybe people would hear the podcast and then want to join Out Of Overwhelm. But I also didn’t have the expectation, or wasn’t riding on that as my main marketing source to have people join the program.
And this was really important, because as the podcast has grown – And thank you all for sharing it. I so, so appreciate that – I’m really just now, maybe even just from a few months ago, starting to have people mention the podcast when they start to reach out and want to work with me, and start to mention it when maybe I am on another person’s platform sharing my work. And they’re like, “Oh yeah, I love your podcast.” Starting to get more reviews consistently, right?
And so it gave me space to figure this whole podcast thing out. It lessened the pressure by setting those expectations that this is a long game. No one episode was going to make or break me, so I had the flexibility to play and to experiment.
Another reason I wanted this to have the long game mindset is because then I was able to budget for the long game, both in terms of my time and money. There’s time that I spend weekly preparing and recording these episodes for you. And there are resources devoted to paying my assistant to help me promote the podcast. And then I invest in a top notch production company because I want the sound quality to be excellent for you.
If I were to look at the resources devoted in one week, it’s something, but it’s just one part of my week. But if I look at the resources, time and money, that I devote to this project over the year, it’s quite significant. And so I needed to plan for that both in how I was structuring my schedule and how I was structuring my budget for the year.
Another reason to play the long game is because it gives you a clear point at which you will re-decide. So I gave myself that one year timeframe. Often we embark on something new and spend so much energy and time going back and forth in our minds about if we should be doing something, if we should be doing something else, if it’s working, should I keep doing it, right? And that kind of goes back to the setting of the expectations.
If I hadn’t committed to the year, I could have been one month in just flip flopping all over the place. It would start affecting my enthusiasm for creating the content. I would have been spending so much time thinking about should I or shouldn’t I do it, and having so much brain drama, it would have just drained me and taken my focus away from making this podcast the best that I can.
And I also want to highlight, this is very different than having a consistent evaluation process. It’s not that I said, well, this is the long game and so I’m going to do this for a year and not pay any attention to the stats or if people are paying attention or how I’m going to market it.
I’m going to evaluate. I’m going to adjust course. I’m going to learn from what I’m doing and what’s working and what’s not working. But I’m also committed to it being a year so I’m not entertaining the ideas of quitting all the time.
So that’s an example for me around the podcast. And to adopt this long game approach in your business, you can really take any initiative or project and apply what I just shared. Playing the long game is also going to require a few other things, and I’m going to outline those here for you.
The very first is to stop playing the short game. This is the most obvious, but I want to call it out because the way that our brain works, you’re going to be tempted to trade short-term dopamine hits for long-term satisfaction.
Now, in the moment that always feels like, yeah, I’m going to take that dopamine. But the trade is never worth it when you’re working toward a goal in your business. It’s just not. It’s going to seem like it in the moment, our brain is most concerned with seeking pleasure and avoiding effort. But it’s never, never worth it in the long run. Long term satisfaction, fulfillment and pride in what you’re able to create is always worth it.
There are always going to be things that you want to put off because they appear difficult or you might not get it right the first time. And that can be discouraging and disappointing, and I totally get that. And that’s why it’s so important to learn to manage yourself, which really means managing your mind around the short and long-term gains.
This can be especially challenging because the short-term effects of playing the short game usually aren’t that apparent or severe. For example, a few minutes scrolling through social instead of creating your own content, right? Not the end of the world on that Monday when it happens. But when you look at those short game moments over time, the negative effects, like the loss of time, focusing more on someone else’s business than your own, it really starts to compound.
Quitting, the short game also includes putting an end to method hopping. Meaning I’m going to try this method and that method and that method, and maybe that’ll work better Oh, I heard so and so say this, maybe I should try that. Or looking for those shortcuts or shiny objects that present themselves in a way of “this is going to solve everything in the next five minutes.” Rarely do those exist.
Example, again, would be time management. Hopping from one method to another, to one planner, to one notebook, to one task management software. We have to have time for things to gain traction. And, of course, like I keep reminding you, we’re going to have that consistent evaluation built into the long game so that we can really reap the benefits of the long game.
So to play the long game, I’m going to give you a recap here, we need to have that vision, your business and life vision. You need to have clear goals and a specific plan that supports the vision. You want to know what you want to get out of the long game you’re playing. Very, very important, so there’s the intention behind the action.
And then you need consistent action taking, set points to assess your progress and evaluate and then make adjustments. And then a date to re-decide. That is essentially when you’re renewing your commitment. It’s when you’ve gone through that initial commitment period and you’re re-deciding, am I going to continue to engage with the project or initiative in this way? Or am I going to adjust course in a more significant way or drop this from my plan?
If you’re willing to play the long game, this will be the source of your success in your business, and that’s because most people aren’t willing to stick with something long enough to get the results they want. But you are a designer, you know you’re investing now to create the future you want personally and professionally.
This week, I want you to explore a couple of questions as you go about your day and are interacting with your business. First question is very simple: Am I playing the long game or the short game? Just ask yourself, become aware of your patterns.
And then the second one is really meant to use this concept of the long game to inform your decisions and actions. So you can ask yourself, if I make this decision, or take this action, what are the results as they compound? And more importantly, what do I think about that compound impact on my business? You may like what happens or you may not. And you can use that to decide on purpose what your next steps are.
I know we’re only a couple of weeks into October, but we really are at the start and into quarter four. And now really is the time to start thinking about what long game you’re going to be playing in 2024 next year. Now is the time to start planning for your goals and commitments. Not just thinking about what am I going to do next week, but what am I going to create for the future of my business?
I would love to help you with this work in your business. And I invite you to check the link out in the show notes for one on one coaching. One on one coaching is a private coaching partnership where we work through your vision, your goals, we make a plan, we take consistent action, we set you up to do all of the things that are involved in the long game. And I am there to support you through at all, whether that is on our live sessions or all of the between session support that you have access to.
There is a link in the show notes where you can get additional information on Designed To Thrive private coaching partnerships, and also schedule your complimentary consultation. I want to see you thrive and hit your goals and have the life that you also love living in 2024, and support you in doing that. So I invite you to play the long game with me.
That is what I have for you today. I’ll be back next week, of course, with another episode. And until then, I’m wishing you a beautiful week. I’ll talk to you soon.
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Thanks for joining me for this week’s episode of The Interior Design Business CEO. If you want more tips, tools and strategies visit www.desicreswell.com. And if you’re ready to take what you’ve learned on the podcast to the next level, I would love for you to check out my signature group coaching program, Out of Overwhelm.
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