Inner vs Outer Scorecard
Recently I have spent a lot of time listening to this podcast called founders. This podcast is a great routine that I have picked up in my spare time when I am traveling to my job or going on rotation because I get great insights from some of the most inspiring people in history. So naturally I gravitated towards people I know and the first one I listened to was about Warren Buffett who is considered one of the most successful investors in the world with a net worth over 103.7 billion dollars according to Forbes.
In the podcast based around the book The Snowball that is based on Buffett's Life and Business. He talks about the importance of a having an inner scorecard in evaluating success in any activity that you participate in. Are you playing your game or someone else's game? Would you rather be the world's greatest at what you do, but have everyone think you are the worst? Or would you rather be the worst at what you do but have everyone think you are the world's best? Spend time thinking about this question.
An outer scorecard is when you base your success on what others think about you or decide what success looks like. An inner scorecard is when you play your own game and base your success on your own rules. The main problem especially for me is that I was raised to value the outer scorecard. As a student you are graded based on how well you perform on an exam that someone else created about the subject. Even in college there was a constant pressure to compare myself to other students in the same profession to see what they are doing because later down the line we are going to be competing for future opportunities. The problem with the outer scorecard is that by comparing yourself to others, you are putting their skills on a pedestal and belittling your skills in that domain. So an outer scorecard is an important metric to keep in life but as I am learning, I am starting to realize the importance of the inner scorecard.
So one way I started to think about this concept is to actually take time to understand the reasoning behind the outer scorecard so that I can still play the game. Once I understand the reasoning behind this outer scorecard, I turn to my inner scorecard and learn how I can use my rules of life to help me win in the long term. Use my strengths and what I value to be satisfied in my pursuit to live a good life. If I were to focus on playing someone else's game I am always one step behind but if I play my own game I separate myself in a way that allows me to truly grow and enjoy the process along the way.
