It’s Not About the Win: The BROH Life Guide to the Infinite Game

As a BROH, you know the feeling of the grind. You love pushing yourself to win, whether it’s sinking a jump shot, closing a deal, or landing that perfect cast. But here’s a truth that has brought me more peace and fulfillment lately: it’s never about the win or the loss; it’s about the lesson.

That’s why I get just as much—if not more out of hunting and fishing than I do from organized sports. Every time I hit the water or the woods, it’s a fresh opportunity to succeed or fail, and either way, I guarantee I’ll walk away knowing more than when I started.

This idea isn’t new. In fact, one of the fiercest competitors to ever live understood it perfectly.

The Mamba Mentality and the Infinite Game

Before his tragic death, Kobe Bryant was asked the famous question: “Do you love to win or hate to lose?”

His answer cuts through all the noise: “I’m neither. I play to figure things out. I play to learn something.”

Think about that. The man known for the “Mamba Mentality” the ultimate killer instinct saw his craft as a continuous process of discovery.

When you fixate on winning, losing, or some other external outcome, you pull yourself out of the present moment. You sabotage your chance to enter a flow state. You become fragile.

But when you adopt a mindset of curiosity and growth, it relieves the pressure, centers your focus, and helps you stay anchored.

Kobe realized the difference between the finite game and the infinite game:

• The Finite Game is time-bound. There are clear rules, winners, and losers.

• The Infinite Game knows no end. The only goal is to keep playing, learning, and discovering.

All the greats—in every field—have had to learn that the infinite game is every bit as important as the finite one.

Your Craft is Your Vessel for Self-Discovery

Whether you play basketball or cello, repair cars or build tables, write books or coach young people—your craft is your most powerful vessel for self-discovery.

We all share a fundamental, biological imperative to flourish, evolve, and grow. There is simply no greater source of fulfillment and satisfaction than pushing yourself against a challenge and developing along the way.

As Robert Pirsig wrote about his experience with motorcycle maintenance:

“The real cycle you’re working on is a cycle called yourself… The machine that appears to be ‘out there’ and the person that appears to be ‘in here’ are not two separate things. They grow toward Quality or fall away from Quality together.”

Excellence demands a powerful hunger for growth:

• A hunger to figure out what you’re capable of.

• A hunger to better know your craft.

• And, most importantly, a hunger to better know yourself.

Stop stressing the final score and start focusing on the next lesson.

That’s the BROH Life way.