After spending the last two weeks surfing, laying on the beach and running a copy retreat in Sayulita, Mexico…
I’m finally back in Austin.
My time away stirred up a lot of new ideas…
And I had a bunch of insights from the copy retreat.
So over the next two days…
I’m gonna share a few of the takeaways I had from the Sayulita retreat.
And I’ll start with my favorite one, which was…
“Play long term games with long term people”
This is a quote I originally heard from Naval Ravikant…
The idea of “playing long term games with long term people” was one of the main threads that ran through every hotseat we did at the copy retreat.
Why?
Cause the reality is that most people (myself included) don’t put enough thought into the people they’re partnering with…
That could be the clients you’re working with…
It could be people you choose as business partners…
It could be agencies you work with…
Doesn’t really matter what it is…
The point is that you need to put more thought into whether or not this person is a good long term fit for you.
One of the analogies I used at the retreat many times was that selecting business partners and clients is a lot like dating.
If you’re simply hooking up with someone while on vacation, you don’t need a ton of filters and standards for that.
Basically you just need to find the person attractive…
Safe…
And fun to be with…
And you should have a good time.
However…
If you’re looking for your future wife…
Then that kind of filtering ain’t gonna cut it.
Cause if you’re looking for someone to spend the rest of your life with, then you need to filter for things like…
– Can you communicate well with each other (can you bring up tough issues, can you be honest, can you be vulnerable?)…
– What are their values? What matters to them? Is it money? Is it freedom? Is it safety? Is it being passionate about something?
– What are their interests? Do they like going to art shows? Watching hockey? Traveling? Do your interests align with theirs?
– What is their family like? Is family important to them? What traditions from their family will they want to be a part of your family? Do they want to raise your kids the same way they were raised?
– What is their lifestyle like? Are they out til 3 AM at EDM shows? Or are they a homebody? Do they wake up at 6 AM to go to the gym? Or do they eat McDonald’s every night after work? Are your lifestyles compatible?
– How do they spend money? Are they frugal? Or do they drop $10k at Nordstrom’s without batting an eye? Do you have similar values when it comes to spending, saving and investing?
– How mature are they? Do they see the two of you as a “team” and do they put the team first? Or do they care more about themselves?
I could go on and on with this…
Cause there’s tons of things you should filter for when choosing a spouse…
However…
When it comes to business partners and clients…
Most people don’t do any filtering.
None.
In fact, they usually jump straight from a 40-minute Zoom call into marriage.
Seriously.
There’s no small projects to see if you will work well together…
No talks about if you have similar values and goals…
No meeting other people they’ve worked with to get outside opinions…
It’s like an instant marriage.
And then we wonder why the partnership falls apart…
Or why the client is a pain-in-the-ass…
It’s cause we didn’t do any filtering.
And we didn’t pick someone who was a long term fit.
This is why Dan and I stressed all throughout the retreat the idea of “playing long term games with long term people”.
The reality is that most people are NOT long term people.
They might be ok for a quick fling…
Or a one-off project…
But you need to think long and hard if they’re the type of person you want to “marry”.
Cause when you take on a business partner…
Or you land a retainer client…
This is what you’re doing.
You’re hitching your wagon to them.
So if they’re not reliable…
Or they’re emotionally immature…
You’re gonna be in for a rocky relationship.
So again the big takeaway here is simple…
When it comes to business partners…
Clients…
And even service providers…
You want to play long term games with long term people.
That’s a simple idea…
But it’s one that will make your life, and your business a whole lot more enjoyable (and successful) if you do it.
So keep it in mind…
– Justin
If you want to hear more from Justin, he has a private email list for top marketers, copywriters and business owners. To apply to be on the email list simply click the button below that says “apply now”.
