What do you do when you have done all you know to do, and everything you have been advised to do, and still there is no Return On Effort? How do you turnaround a frustrating situation to one of opportunity and growth? The following are suggestions from personal experience, study, and observation. I hope you find them helpful. 

Real world expectations about the game of life

Despite having predicable, probable, and likely features, trends, and usual occurrences, it helps if your expectations of the Game of life are not one-sided but based on a well-rounded reading of the game, namely also takes account of unlikely, unusual, unwanted, and unexpected chance occurrence because life isn't fair or predictable. I have in my lifetime been upended by an overly optimistic and naïve take on life, that left me disappointed when my best effort, energy and skills didn’t convert into my desired outcome. Conversely, I have also been pleasantly surprised when, despite things looking depressing, hopeless, dead in the water and unlikely to change, they shifted in ways that I could only hope for. You might find it helpful, as with the beautiful game, to anticipate and prepare for, rather than be worried by, the typical challenges, set pieces and encounters of the Game of life, so that you have tactics and strategies for handing them when they predictably show up but also when they unpredictably show up, against the run of play. I am referring to those real-world events on our spinning ball like: gains, losses, failure, disappointments, frustrations, success, chances, opportunities, fair and unfair challenges, upsets, setbacks, opposition, overwhelm, an attacking threat, mistakes, embarrassing howlers, good fortune, lucky breaks. These things are woven into the fabric of the game of life, require skilful handling, and are addressed in my 8 module Tactics, Wisdom from the Beautiful Game, World Series.

Game plan

Your time on the ball will be hugely helped if you have a system - a responsive and cohesive game plan with  strategies and tactics for creating and acquiring what you want; for safeguarding what you have gained; for resisting, and preventing what you don’t want, and for coming back from a setback when what you didn’t want to happen does. It helps if you have set yourself up for the Game of life in ways that help you maximise your efforts on the ball. (My Olive Tactics Model Game Management System (OTM01) can help you with how you have set yourself up for the Game of your life, and the modules of the Tactics, Wisdom from the Beautiful game, World Series, provide ideas, inspiration, and insights for effectively handling the opportunities, challenges, and encounters of the Game of life). Click here for details.

What time is it?

Game management is a key skill in the beautiful game as it is in the Beautiful Game of life. By game management I mean how you read and respond to the ebb and flow, the patterns and periods, the trends and developments, the times, and the seasons, the ups and downs of life, so you know when and how best to act and react based on knowledge, understanding, foresight. Game Management helps you take timely helpful action. For example, when to conserve one’s resources or invest more; when to up the tempo or take the pace out of the game; when to defend and when to go on the offensive; whether and  when to change tact or to persist with the game plan you have been working until it achieves its end goal. When to sit back, and when to be on the front foot. When and whether to leave things as they are or make some changes. Sometimes what you are doing isn’t working because it doesn’t work, it’s just that the method, knowledge and capabilities that have served you well, are now out of season; are not what’s needed right now. For example, while it is good to thoroughly think things through, perhaps what is needed now is more action and less  rumination. Or conversely, what is required is not more raw emotion but a better strategy, or time away to rest and recover spent energies rather than play all out when you really don’t need to chase the game.     

Strong bark, wrong tree

Is a reference to putting your best effort (strong bark) into things that have low productivity value (wrong tree), namely, you are unlikely to get a return that is proportionate with your investment. Thus, it's not worth the effort. In the Game. of life its when you invest in something that is unlikely to produce increased value even if you were to invest more. Perhaps your next action is to cut your losses, withdraw your investment and to find a tree that has yield potential. Discernment in decision making is required because it may eventually yield, but at what cost. Maybe what you need to do is to give it as much time and energy as you are able to tolerate then come to a decision about calling time on it. In the beautiful game it's when an expensive player is purchased, invested in and given time, is released because they have not produced the goals you shelled out big money for. Perhaps the reason why there hasn't been a breakthrough may not be due to lack of effort on your part but because the thing invested in is a dud, a flop, a disappointment. It happens!

Training and coaching

If you are finding that you are struggling to convert, to achieve a return on your effort, or you want to convert more of your attempts, learning how best to from people who know how to would be a worthwhile investment. It helps to get better at handling the stuff of the Game of life. It could be through training and coaching that you find ways to achieve the breakthrough that has thus far eluded you.

Frustration management and emotional regulation

As in the beautiful game, going for goals will involve working intentionally towards what you would like and being frustrated in your attempts. Perhaps you are being let down by your own and your team’s poor follow through, lack of skill and application or being thwarted by the challenges of being in a competitive environment. Contrary to the overly optimistic view of life that you reap what you sow, sometimes what comes back is less than what you put in. Many of your attempts won’t come off or yield the returns you anticipated. There will be opposition and some things will unfairly go against you and in favour of someone else. You will have near misses and some legitimate achievements ruled out. You will miss sitters, put through your own net and be fairly and unfairly thwarted. All these situations require you to effectively manage feelings of annoyance, irritation, and exasperation.

Problem solving insight

Is tremendously useful and comes from insightful eyes and knowledgeable and skilful hands. It’s the ability to see why something isn’t resulting in gains and wins and being able to see where changes would result in improvement. It can be helpful to get experienced eyes and hands to look at what you are doing and to advise on improvements.

Time out and check ins

Are important. Time to think about how the first half has gone and what to do next to build on it or to turn it around if it hasn't gone well, is much better than persisting at it when it's not working. Time out and time away to think about what is working and what isn’t and to decide on changes is never wasted time. The value of timeouts to assess and plan is discussed further here.

Feedback

Is also helpful if you want your attempts to result in breakthrough. Such feedback provides information about the impact your efforts are having on your goal and why your efforts have or haven't resulted in goal achievement. The value of real time feedback is discussed further here.

Post match data analysis

Is a detailed look at the data from your activity and performance after the event. The fine details tell the story of why your efforts bombed or succeeded. They reveal for analysis the small margins and the little things that need adjusting to achieve the outcome you had in mind. The value of post-match analysis is discussed further here.

Optimising the system

Sometimes, it’s not a major overhaul that is needed, but a fine tuning of the whole system. It’s not one thing but quite a few small things that are contributing to the desired outcome not being delivered. The issue isn’t with an individual part, it’s the system. The issue is systemic. In the beautiful game, the issue is how the 11 positions of the team link with each other. Usefully, my Olive Tactics Model Game Management System, (OTM01) walks you through your Game of life line up, your set up for the Game of your life, all 11 positions of the Game of life, and is an effective approach for maximising your time and efforts on our spinning ball. Click here to enquire about OTM01.

That one thing

Conversely, the problem that needs sorting is the thing that is undermining the rest of the system from producing the desired outcome. Once identified and rectified the system can deliver what it was designed to deliver. The offending part has been repaired. In business this could be sorting out that final page of the sales process that is turning people away from purchasing, everything else works like a dream. In the beautiful game, the issue is with one of the 11 position of the team.

Substitution

In the beautiful game a substitution is made to bring a new and fresh dynamic to the game play, perhaps to create an opening that has been resistant to change, to fill a gap that has left you vulnerable, to change the game to capitalise on chances that are being missed. The substitution, which represents a replacement and a change of strategy, brings a different approach and energy to what has been, and is based on problem solving insight and game management skills.  It might just be what the game needed to get the efforts of the team over the line.

Patience and Persistence

If you have a good and proven plan and you are taking the required action, what might be required is not a change but a decision to stay with the approach and not give up on it. Your breakthrough might be a few attempts away from the change you are wanting. So don’t be quick to quit, stay the course.

Try something different

Conversely, what might be needed is not continuing with a course of action, but introducing something novel, something different, off script, something creative, out there, a long shot. This doesn’t have to mean abandoning a good and proven plan or the need for patience and persistence, but introducing a different element that might create an opening. For example, rather than ask for dates for a meeting, it might make all the difference if you offered some dates and offered to do the grunt work.

Mindset

Will be important, as you will be tempted to throw in the towel, to give up, to talk yourself out of what you believed was possible; to conclude that it’s not possible, or worth it. Be around people who will encourage you to keep going, when every part of you wants to quit.

Intensity and tempo

Perhaps what is needed is not less or the same level of energy and investment but more. Maybe what you want will buckle and yield if you upped your input. For example, made more calls, put more ads out, put in a few more hours, put more emotion and energy into your presentation.

Conversion improvement

As mentioned, perhaps the one thing that needs working on, is the decisive last piece of the conversion funnel. Perhaps the thing to work on is how you close the deal. Maybe you are creating many leads, but not converting them. In the beautiful game, the issue is with one of the forwards in your line up. Click here for some helpful actions on how to put away your goal attempts.

Creating chances

Or perhaps you are not creating enough chances, hence your low conversion rate. The thing to work on is the creation of many more good opportunities. In the beautiful game, the problem that needs addressing sits with the midfielders or with the support striker.

Formidable opposition

Notwithstanding all I have suggested, there will inevitably be times in the Game of life, that you are competing with someone who is head and shoulders above where you are, even at your best. Thus, while you are playing your best game, they are on fire and unplayable. The reason why you haven’t had a breakthrough is because you are being shut out by an unrelenting and awesome competitor.  My best advice is to become formidable, capable and relentless!

It’s a funny old game

Finally, back to my first point, sometimes life happens for you and goes according to plans and expectations, and sometimes it doesn’t despite your considerable investment. When it flips for no apparent reason, against the run of play, you’re having one of those days that you smile through and take in your stride. Fortunately, failure is not your middle name and this is not how things usually go. These things tend to be few and far between. However, if you are having many more bad days than good days, you need some game-changing input to turn your losses into wins. I hope these insights prove useful.

Tony

 
Tony Bryce

Series Creator & Head Coach

For information about how Tony could help you with your game, visit https://www.thetacticscoach.com/

Should you happen to be anywhere near Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom, anytime soon, Tactics @ BD5, could be right up your street. Tactics @ BD5 combines live training, Game Management Group Coaching and an actual game of 6-aside-football, in ways that support the physical and mental health of attendees. Inclusive of light lunch and winner's medals, Tactics @ BD5 is much more than a fun kick about; for you, it could be a game-changing day out! Sign up here!