The Long Game by Dorie Clark is a stark, no holds barred, and comprehensive guide to self-promotion to gain recognition currency. This does not mean you should not be in pursuit of realizing a humanity enriching meaningful purpose -- with a serious dedication to excellence in the expertise you hope to become recognized for -- but Clark does not dwell on that aspect of becoming a recognized expert. She instead adheres to explicitly, logically, and clearly explaining the philosophy, process, and practices of becoming a recognized expert. It will be up to the reader to direct their energy (hopefully) toward something that impassions and inspires them. And short of an all-consuming passion, pursuing what most interests them.

So, though my cynicism of self-promotion for the sake of gaining recognition came into play as I read further in the book, by the time I finished the book I had resolved that Clark had focused on the message she promised to deliver. With her focus, Clark provides us with a powerful guide that is enlightening, anecdotally enriched, comprehensive, and immediately implementable for anyone seeking to craft and deliver their message to the world.

In my case, as I finished reading the book, I prepared my prescription, tailored to my passionate pursuit where I need to become a recognized expert to deliver my message to the world. My prescription begins with my saying "NO" to everything not in my immediate aspirational focus. Along with saying "no," my first wave of thinking and work every day will be heads-down on the next relevant action towards achieving my long-term vision. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Until the results I seek begin to emerge.

Clark employs a three-part framework of: content creation (be heard) --> social proof (be recognized) --> network (be amplified) consistently throughout the book to make sense of her advice and guidance. With each prescriptive practice Clark provides exemplars of people putting them to work to achieve their objectives for personal growth, expertise development, and the recognition that validates their efforts.

One gem I greatly appreciated: If you intend to extend your reach beyond most anyone else in your field or area of interest, practice long-termism. Practice exercising an active and vigorous patience -- while planning with a longer time horizon than others. This give you the advantage of time analogous to harnessing the power of compound interest that, over time, gains you an unassailable advantage. And what a common-sense thing to do in a phrenic world with most players consumed by short-termism that ultimately produces mediocrity if not outright failure -- over time.

I think this is a very timely book as many of us struggle to reflect on our lives and re-invent ourselves in what is the new normal. Dorie provides several important tips and many important ideas to take a longer view on how to set up a long view for success in life and in business. I found "thinking in waves" particularly relevant to me, and I believe others should recognize the flow all of us go through in our lives.. I highly recommend this book for those who want long-term value from their contributions to this world.

Provides extremely helpful techniques for people to think about "the long game" and maximize creativity and productivity. Effectively sums up the problems that face professionals in our rapidly-changing world and provides actionable advice and insight to strategize future plans. The pandemic has forced everyone to change the way they live and Dorie emphasizes how we need to change our approach and strategically plan our "long games" to maximize a sense of happiness and purpose. An amazing read for anyone looking to build more strategic thinking into their day-to-day lives, filled with anecdotes and relatable material.

This book is amazing and gives helpful techniques for longevity as a creator, thinker, and entrepreneur.

Like many of us, do you live your life on auto-pilot, rushing from one commitment to another, without carving out time to reflect on the kind of life you want to live? Are you optimizing for the wrong things? The good news is that there are concrete steps you can take to fix this. Clark's newest book will help you to discover what success really means for you and how to go about achieving your business and life goals.

"The Long Game" is an essential guide for anyone who wants to rise above the din of the crowd and learn to focus on what matters. It will help you abandon short-term people-pleasing in favor of developing a strategic view of your life and business goals so that you can live your life the way you want to.

In an easy-to-read format, you will have a clear understanding of the three habits of mind you need to cultivate to become a long-term thinker.

There are so many aspects of this book that I enjoyed. Here's a partial list:

• It's deeply insightful and superbly researched.
• All the insights are based on practical, real-world experiences. There's nothing kumbaya about this solid work.
• There is an abundance of case studies, stories, and anecdotes culled from the author's personal life and many others, including successful high achievers.
• I particularly appreciated the four powerful questions you need to ask yourself to help you decide whether or not you should say yes to requests, opportunities, or "(seeming) obligations." This tool alone is worth the price of the book.
• The concept of "Thinking in Waves" is required reading for anyone who wants to make intelligent choices about allocating their time and becoming a recognized expert in their field.
• I appreciated the helpful summary at the end of the book of the resources mentioned in the book.

What's more, throughout the book, you experience the Dorie Clark trademark: Independence, optimism, and resilience. It rubs off on the reader.

The book is an invitation to play the long game and will be a boon to everyone who wants something more out of their lives and careers, whether it's an entrepreneur, a mid-career or senior professional, a person planning for a retirement career, or a recent graduate.

If you're willing to bet on yourself regardless of what others around you think, and you're prepared to do the work, you will be on your way to thinking and acting for the long term. The work starts with reading this valuable book.

Filled with real life examples of people who defined success for themselves and then went on to achieve it, The Long Game provides simple steps to achieving your goals. The author's diverse examples of setting and attaining milestones reawakens feelings of being able to do anything if you set your mind to it.

Have you ever read a book and then had a mental list of people you want to give the book to so you can discuss it? This is that book.

Dorie cogently summarizes the problems facing professionals in today's changing world. More than just the context though, she provides actionable insights and direct advice for maximizing your strategic approach to modern living. With the intertwining of our personal and professional lives that has resulted from lockdown, Dorie clearly illustrates why we need a strategy in our approach to creating a sense of happiness and purpose. Moreover, she delivers a clear-cut outline of the steps we can take to build a clear sense of purpose in bringing our individual talents to the marketplace. This book is a solid read for anyone seeking to learn more strategic thinking in their everyday approach to both business and life. As always, Dorie delivers her message through easy-to-understand anecdotes and relatable stories. Dorie is an excellent communicator and "The Long Game" continues her insightful guidance into managing our lives in this rapidly evolving world.

Most of us are in a hamster wheel - working furiously but getting nowhere. This book is the solution to get off that wheel, find your purpose and achieve success that feels meaningful. Another gem by Dorie Clark

I had the opportunity to read a digital preview of this book via Netgalley and I really liked the book.

What I liked about the book:

1. The book has been written in a way that makes it smooth reading. I was able to finish reading the entire book in a couple of days.
2. The real life examples that Dorie shares in the book makes it easier for the reader to adopt these recommendations in their lives. They remove all the excuses that someone might have (this will not work for me, I am not disciplined enough to be able to pull it off, it might take too much time/energy/effort and I don't have enough of them, etc.
3. Every chapter ends with a crisp takeaways from the chapter. If we don't read the book and just read these summaries, we can still takeaway a lot from the book.

What could have been better:

There is not much that this book lacks. So, nothing to report here.

The book has all the ingredients to not only make all the best sellers list but to be an impactful book for everyone who reads it.

PS: I am amazed at the variety of experiences that Dorie has had in her life. I guess he does optimise for "interesting".

Definitely a must read..

Are you stuck in a zone of permanent action? Perhaps you are getting a lot done, but it’s tactical – nothing really strategic or long term. In fact, you might not even know what long term plan you want to have, let alone be making steps towards achieving it.
The Long Game by Dorie Clark (HBR Press) is the answer.
It’s a book that will help you create the ‘white space’ that you need to clear the decks and work out what that long term plan might be. It also explains how you might get there, however winding the path.
The book also has something for you if you don’t think you would be able to work out a plan either. After all, many people don’t know where they want to go, and actually, a plan isn’t important.
The point is to open yourself up to opportunities and lay the ground work for what might come later.
The book is full of anecdotes and stories of how people have ‘focused where it counts’ and found that decisions they took years ago paid off in terms of networking connections and opportunities. It’s an inspiring look at the power of thinking longer term.
The Long Game is a pro-networking guide on what it takes to build long term relationships with no expectations that the contact will immediately ‘pay off’ with some kind of deal or work opportunity. In fact, the author recommends not making an ask of a new contact within the first year.
The book is also a reminder of what it takes to be truly recognized as an expert and what it takes to accomplish your goals. It takes a long time – don’t get discouraged if you aren’t making progress fast enough, because often ‘fast’ is unrealistic.
We all want to get where we’re going as soon as possible, but you have to put the work in. Take a small step and positive momentum will help you achieve your goals.
I found it an interesting book that prompted me to reflect on my own long term plans, such as they are, and think about how I could be making better decisions to set me up for success in the future – whatever that might look like.
It also prompted me to buy this to keep track of my network connections.
It’s an exercise worth doing regardless of what stage you are in your life or career. You might not end up there, but if you stay curious along the way, you are likely to end up just where you are meant to be.