So I’ve recently gotten into American Mahjong. Like, “took my first official lesson two weeks ago, played 10 hours of online Mahjong over the Labor Day weekend, and signed up for a fall league” level of obsessed.
And I promise, I won’t fold this hobby into my business all of the time, but I couldn’t resist this time.
In Mahjong—a strategic tile game—you’re dealt a set of tiles and then swap them in and out, aiming to build one of the winning patterns listed on a shared card. Patterns are grouped by type, like all odds, all evens, or a run of numbers in one suit. Some tiles, like Flowers, fit in multiple groups so they are valuable to everyone.
After the deal, you see your initial set of tiles. And you immediately have to choose what type of pattern to go after because you have to discard tiles that don’t match your pattern. You can’t look at your hand and say, “I want to keep everything.” Because you have to discard tiles you don’t want.
As you move deeper into the game, you have to pick one specific pattern to try to hit. If you delay your choice and try to keep too many options open… you end up discarding tiles that you might ultimately have needed, or forgo choosing tiles that you want.
Even if that means you have to sacrifice one of the “good” tiles, the tiles that everyone "should" want, tiles that give you options — pretty early in the game you have to make choices about where to focus and what to discard. And if you don’t choose, at the end of the game you might have a hand that’s not complete enough to win.
That moment of committing—of discarding good tiles that don’t fit—felt exactly like business.
Because even “good” tactics might not work for your business model.
That’s why it’s so important early on to pick which type of business model you’re building: delivery-based, creator-based, or a thoughtfully executed hybrid.
Just like Mahjong, as you get further into your business model, you end up narrowing in even further on specific strategies for you.
- “Go on YouTube!” — that is a great way to get in front of new audiences. Is that right for you?
- “Guest on podcasts!” — your audience might not listen to podcasts, or you want a more direct way to make money now through relationships, instead of hoping someone from a podcast can listen and immediately decide to buy from you.
- “Have a daily newsletter!” — works for some, might not work for you.
These are all tactics I’ve heard as the best. But scattering yourself amongst too many tactics, trying too many things without a solid commitment to what you’re doing, leaves you like a half-committed hand.
For me, this meant discarding short-form video like Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts—all “good” tiles that everyone says you should want—and doubling down on text-based marketing and long-form video instead. These shorter formats are valuable and work for many people, but they didn’t match the pattern I was building toward.
When you’re scattered, at best the round ends with no winner and you earn a few points. But you never win the hand. You never get the big bonuses.
So don’t be afraid to commit.
Don’t be afraid to discard a good tactic, or a “good” tile, if it doesn’t match the pattern you’re working towards.
Because succeeding in business, like in Mahjong, comes not from keeping all your options open, but from discarding boldly and committing fully.