Lose Now, Win Later

Making sacrifices in the present for a gain in the future is a pretty universal truth, but sometimes we all need a reminder of how to put it to work in our daily lives.

Have you ever experienced the effect of buying a certain type of car, and then you see those cars everywhere? It seems like everyone and their mom also decided to buy the same car as you did, but in reality, you just see those because you’re paying attention to them now, and you didn’t care before.

The same thing happens to me when I write about an idea or notice a concept in one area of life. Now, everywhere I turn, I’m seeing the same pattern. At work, in the gym, in my social circles. It’s no different with the idea of losing now to win later—so, having explored that idea in connection with agriculture, ecosystems, and sustainability last time, I can’t help but take some time to see other areas where I’m seeing this show up, and in doing so, provide some tangible examples where this could serve you, wherever you’re at in life.

At the gym

There are few things powerlifters hate more than being capped on how much weight they can lift on a given day. We’re so driven by the number of plates on the bar, it’s hard to get excited about lifting 60% of your max. Yet, if we tried to bench our max every week, our body would suffer from fatigue and not only would we not get stronger, we’d also probably get injured somewhere along the way. That’s why powerlifting programs are set up such that, in each given 4-6 week block, the lifter gradually adds weight each week to give the body a chance to lose fatigue from the previous block while building towards a heavy “peak week,” as we call the final week in a block. We’re deliberately “losing” each of those lighter weeks, if we measure by weight; yet, it’s to “win” in the long run by building muscle and power sustainably.

At work

Not long ago, I had a conversation with one of my ag retail customers which reinforced a lesson I learned early on: if you push too hard for a sale right now, you’ll likely lose the chance to make any sales in the future. He was sharing frustration with a particular rep who continued to show up with the same talking points on the same products, none of which were a real fit for the retailer. In this case, not only did that rep not get the sale now, they also have likely shut themselves out from future sales with this retailer. Sometimes, pushing for a quick sale now does give you a win this year, but if it ends up putting the customer in a bad position the following year, you’ll likely lose their trust. Once a trust is lost in a relationship business, it’s gone forever, never to return again.

In the first two years in my sales territory, I’ve seen plenty of “opportunities” to push unnatural sales, and at times have been challenged for not pursuing those; yet, now as I’m entering my third year, I’m starting to see more wins pile up—ones that are wins for me and the customer, and I have no doubt I wouldn’t have these real opportunities now if I had pushed too hard early on.

While the sales application is clear for me to see, I imagine there are similar applications across other fields as well, and certainly in the workplace. When you start out at a new company, you may have to take on more projects—or ones you don’t like—in order to gain the credibility to turn down projects later. When you are faced with a challenging ethical decision, you may experience a social loss by not going along with the crowd right now, but you’ll win in the long-term by sticking to your conscience and maintaining your reputation as an upstanding person.

In your habits

There are few things I hate more than getting out of bed early in the morning. There are also few things I hate more than sleeping in and feeling rushed and off-kilter all day. And, you know what? The time I spend moping about waking up early is usually just a few minutes, whereas the time I suffer as a result of sleeping in is often a good chunk of the whole day. I know I’m not alone here; why do we so often choose more suffering? Because we hate to lose in the moment, and waking up early feels like losing in the sleepy moment in which we have to do it.

With some exceptions, it would seem many of the habits we build are examples of losing now to win later. Just as most of us don’t wake up early for the pure joy of waking up early, I don’t think most of us are choosing a veggie snack instead of a donut because we’d rather eat celery than a sugary treat, or going to the gym because it’s more fun than crashing on the couch after work. No, most of the sacrifices we make now so our future self can be happier and healthier are just that: sacrifices. Yet, perhaps there’s another layer of winning later.

The Win-Win-Win of Sacrificing Now to Win Later

Have you ever found yourself actually loving a healthy habit after doing it for awhile? That morning run you used to dread, now you can’t live without? The sweet treat you used to crave doesn’t seem as appealing as it once did? The page in your journal you used to force yourself to write, now you look forward to? I’m not saying everything that’s good for us long-term will become our favorite thing to do; yet, I have noticed a trend. It seems the more we lean into those life-giving habits which create long-term well-being, the more the practice itself becomes meaningful.

Isn’t this such a gift? Not that doing the thing that’s best for us long-term is always easy; no, it takes discipline to cultivate a habit long enough for it to become joyful. Yet, this shouldn’t surprise us. We know easy things aren’t what bring us the most meaning in our lives; it’s the things which we have to work at, strive for, which we ultimately look back on and say “yes, that was worth it.”

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One Thing Differently

What’s one area of your life where you’re fighting for a win now that will only cause you to lose, later? What sacrifice could you make to create a long-term win, instead?