Cover Image: The Long Game

The Long Game

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Member Reviews

This is a solid book on thinking strategically in a world that seems determined to have us all think and act with a short-term bias.

What I appreciate most about the book is that there are action items that enable us to actually put long-term strategic thinking to use.

This is helpful because a lot of times we walk away from books thinking that it would be great if we were able to add a little flavor to the experience by putting it to work.

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Dorie Clark has written a non-fiction “how-to” book that reads as if she is offering the sincerest career (and life) advice to a dear friend over a frothy latte in a familiar place. The book provides clearly defined and memorable “lessons” that I sum up this way “if you want to be a recognized expert, you must be purposeful, focused, time-conscious, empowered and energized by your mistakes, and willing to dance to the beat of your own drummer.” It’s advice that resonates if you’ve ever thought, “how do thought leaders do it; are they superhuman?” According to Dorie Clark (a member of Thinkers50 and a definite thought leader), the answer is “you already have what you need. You just need to work it, even when the goal seems unattainable!” This book is a real kick-in-the-pants.

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I'm so sorry - I only had this title as an acsm file, and it expired before I got around to reading it. My apologies!

I have given a 5-star rating by way of apology, and because I can't Give Feedback without giving a star rating.

Apologies again, and best of luck with your publications!

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This is a very helpful, practical book for business owners and entrepreneurs. I appreciate Dorie Clark's style of writing and the clear way she explains what might be keeping someone back from moving forward, and how to think long-term so you don't burn out or expect too much too soon. Highly recommended for entrepreneurs and business owners!

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Until I read this book, I didn’t realize how much of a short term mindset I had. I’m always looking to check off boxes and move on to the next thing and this book really helped me to take a step back and look to develop long term goals and outlooks. Great read before the new year.

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Dorie has always had her finger on the pulse of success — and the journey to get there. Her new book is no exception. In The Long Game, she generously shares her personal experience as well as the stories of people around her whom she’s helped find and achieve their calling.

Success always looks easy in the rear view mirror. Dorie wisely encourages us to take a closer look so we can examine that social mirage. She reminds us to pay attention, to take time to witness the truth — the actual trail and timeline it took to get there. When we do, we'll see the years of work preceding the blowout success that’s only visible to us now. Dorie’s message is real, reassuring, and inspirational.

The Long Game is a must-read for anyone who aspires to design and live their best life.

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Dorie doesn't disappoint. I've been a fan of hers for a long time, and couldn't wait to get my hands on this books. As usual, it's written in an easy to understand way with anecdotes, real-life examples, and plenty of practical (not magical, out of this world) tips that will get us to where we want to be with our long term career goals.

While this is a standalone book, I highly recommend Dorie's other books that lead up to this one too.

The Long Game is a 5-star must-read!
Go on, get yourself a copy.

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As a fan of highly practical business advisors and their insights, I had high expectations for Dorie Clark’s new book, and it didn’t disappoint. Note that I said practical. Although Dorie uses the familiar consulting device of spinning stories from her life and work to make her points, she gives an important twist to many of the anecdotes. Not everything ends in success as planned, and most avoid the ego trip of Wonder Dorie or Super Client swooping in with advice mere mortals cannot fathom. I will grant you that I have enjoyed (obviously) quite a few such hero-theme tomes, but they don’t tend to teach as many lessons as their authors might suppose, and even the good lessons can feel less-than-applicable to those who are young, new to an industry, or in any other way lacking power, resource, and influence. Even a junior-high student can "choose interesting," and learning to say no should be basic Adulting 101. At the same time, there is ample scope to scale lessons throughout a career. The Long Game won't fix the damage done to your business by the pandemic, but it may well give you something to do with all those lemons so that you have sweet lemonade over the long haul.

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Well done Dorie Clark!, Fantastic and useful book about thinking long-term, about setting your own vision, priorities and go for them; no shortcuts, no magic recipes... it's a longgame to enjoy, step-by-step, patience consistency and resilence to keep moving forward to something/a place that really matters (your own vision, no one else's but your own). Well written, easy-to-read, full of actionable strategies and inspiration from many professionals that share their personal stories along the book.

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THE LONG GAME

Dorie Clark offers a relatable perspective on long-term thinking in her book The Long Game: How to Be Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World.

More precisely, in The Long Game Clark writes about how to be a long-term thinker when it comes to one’s career goals and aspirations. In a sense, the book is all about keeping one’s eye on the ball. How do we set ourselves up for success? How do we make decisions that ensure we’re able to meet our career objectives? These may seem like mundane questions, yet finding the right answers is easier said than done.

Anyone who wants to be successful knows that becoming such requires hustle and often grasping every available opportunity. However, there comes a point when maintaining the same level of hustle and accepting every opportunity that comes one’s way actually becomes counterproductive. After all, there are limits to our time and attention, and however we devote these there will be substantial opportunity costs based on our decisions. Hence, sometimes we need to take a step back and get out of our own way lest momentum get the better of us.

In short, when we start out there’s nothing wrong with optimizing for opportunity. We have to pay our dues. But this is not a sustainable long-term strategy. On the other extreme, we can instead optimize for meaning, by making career decisions on the basis of what aligns with our own personal mission and values. However, Clark points out that there is actually a third alternative: to optimize for “interesting”; that is to say, to remain open to opportunities that could open new doors (aware of the fact that the worst that could happen is a whole lot of nothing).

Of course, the challenge lies in discerning which should be one’s appropriate mode, for which reason Clark devotes much of The Long Game to sharing stories by way of example. Readers can easily empathize with these, and as such the book itself serves a useful prompt for readers to examine their professional pursuits with fresh eyes.

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The primary takeaway from The Long Game is simple: plan your career or business by thinking about where you want to be in 5 or 10 years and realize that it takes time and effort to meet your goals. Not all of the advice is unique, but there are plenty of insightful nuggets that challenge conventional wisdom. For readers who are frustrated with how their careers are going, this book offers encouragement and practical advice.

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As a long time reader of Dorie Clark's earlier books, I knew I wanted to read The Long Game as soon as it came out. The author breaks down long-term thinking and strategy in a way that is both encouraging and accessible. She is generous is sharing the ups and downs of her own professional journey, as well as those of many other accomplished professionals that she interviewed for this book. Highly recommend for professionals looking to accomplish big things and needing practical steps and strategies for getting there.

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I thought this was very insightful and well-written. It gave good, tangible tips and advice and I liked the incorporation of personal stories.

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In The LONG GAME, the incomparable Dorie Clark offers a different perspective on living a meaningful, productive life. As in her other work, Clark is that perceptive, keen-sighted person you want by your side as you face the morass of information, demands, dreams, and deepest longings that characterize life in the 21st century. Her clear, wise voice is supported by scores of stories of others who have faced the impossible and found their way to fulfillment and genuine contribution on their own terms and in their own time. I loved this book -- did not want it to end -- read it for immediate and longer-range application -- and already see and feel a HUGE difference in focusing my attention on what is essential to me and accomplishing what is most important. I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

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Emotions, failures, stories;;;that is the most personal book that Dorie Clark has written to share her lessons learned on her incredible success! The book is more than a business book and will give you actionable tips, and food for thought through the true stories of her friends, colleagues and members of her recognized expert community. A wind of positivity to frame your future.

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If you can only read one professional development book this year, make it The Long Game!

The Long Game is an actionable antidote to the self-sabotaging urgency experienced by so many professionals. Author, Doris Clark, offers a clear path toward greater success for those who are willing to eschew short-term thinking and the tail-chasing that goes along with it. The book is filled with memorable stories, personal examples and doable practices that make a real difference. I’m particularly drawn to her suggestions related to strategic patience, exponential growth, and raindrops of recognition. And don’t miss Dorie’s powerful questions for achieving leverage (that I’ll be revising on a regular basis.) I thoroughly enjoyed The Long Game… and will reap the benefits of reading it for a long time. (less)

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Time passes, and if you’re not careful, it passes a little too fast. It’s easy to find yourself in a place where you realize you haven’t done those things you always thought you might do, or tried those things you always wanted to try. Dorie Clark is a pro at breaking down seemingly hard things to do into tangible and bite-sized steps to help you make progress on your biggest goals – even the ones that seem far out of reach, or the ones you can’t even put into words yet. In the Long Game, she shows readers how to take charge of their own life and make progress on what is both important and interesting – so that the urgent and mundane don’t become all-consuming.

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New York Time’s “expert at self-reinvention” Dorie Clark and author of Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You, and Stand Out has done it again and is publishing The Long Game. If you find yourself feeling lost in the motion, stuck in the rat race, and unable to take time for yourself to even breathe — Long Game is a must-read.
By using her own life as a mirror, Dorie shared an intimate retelling of what it means to seek your true purpose in life and what’s right, not what’s obvious or easy. She masterfully weaved life lessons with her personal struggles to demystify success and explore what it means to think long-term in a short-term world.
Her journey from a young journalist to a brilliant keynote speaker, HBR author, and Duke University professor was not a straightforward path. Instead of doing what's easy, guaranteed, or look glamorous at the moment, she inspires us to move step-by-step to achieve our goals but being willing to keep at them, even when they seem pointless, boring, or even unreachable. We must think and act in waves, to not lose our goals in an ocean of distractions.
Success is a long game. It takes discipline to always look for the bigger picture. My friend Dorie invited me to read the book prerelease and I highly recommend anyone who is feeling like they want to regain control of their lives and goals, to read The Long Game and reach their true potential.

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Secrets of professional success is the obsession found at the heart of the matter when listening to the questions coming at me from corporate officers, entrepreneurs, board members, and the merely curious. Dorie Clark just gave us all the handbook and storyboards to satisfy that obsession in The Long Game. Her love for writing shows in the clarity and precision of every line, every page. She’s the first to turn thought leader from a noun to an action figure if they only read and live out the insights in this one book. --Georgia Patrick, CEO, The Communicators, Inc.

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Dorie Clark delivers a practical and fascinating perspective on how you could approach life differently. While a lot of it was focused on business, as expected, it was just as delightful to read about her more unconventional ventures.

Throughout you are reminded of playing the long game, which often leads to unexpected success in real life. Most people are too impatient, so they never dare to break the mould, explore or even take time out to reflect.

This book landed on my want-to-read list the moment I found out about it, and it was well worth the wait! My biggest take from this book: optimize for interesting. Why would you want to make or be the boring choice?

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