In the 1989 film Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner's character receives a mysterious message while watching a ballgame at Fenway Park: "Go the distance." It's a call to step beyond the safe, predictable boundaries of his current life and venture into something that doesn't make logical sense but feels deeply right. Which is to say that it involves packing an ornery, reclusive author into a VW bus and driving from Boston to Minnesota to find Moonlight Graham (you’ve seen the movie.)
It’s a tough time to be self-employed. [It’s a tough time to be anyone other than Donald J. Trump; the rest is just degrees of relativity.] Every few months, financial panic sets in, and I feel obligated to apply for full-time employment. I drop everything else and spend a few intense days thoughtfully applying to remote-first fulltime jobs. Then, the hangover sets in and I think about how miserable I’d be if I was suddenly spending 50 hours a week on emails, meetings, emails about meetings, meetings about emails, etc. So I return to my vision with new vigor, eking out the smallest of wins until the panic returns again. And so the cycle continues.
The only way I’ve found to step outside of this swirl is to think about the future. I don’t mean next quarter or next year; I think about 10 or 15 years from now. I operate from the hypothesis that it will take roughly 10 years to build Clew into the values-driven, sustainable consulting business of my dreams. I’ve got about four years invested now. When I introduce a time horizon measured in decades not quarters, it’s much easier to answer the question: should I quit or should I keep going?
It turns out there's robust science behind this seemingly simple shift, and it has profound implications for how we build resilience and solve problems in our personal and professional lives. Sometimes going the distance means stepping outside our own story to see what's really possible.
So, are you ready to wonder?
The Small Idea: Practice Self-Distancing
The Spark: Lessons from Future You: How to Use Distancing to Unlock Brilliant Ideas
What if there is no such thing as a lucky break, just disciplined, intentional decisions made from perspectives outside ourselves?
Nancy Martira
Clew Strategy
Former nuclear submarine commander and bestselling author L. David Marquet calls our natural state being "locked behind our own eyeballs," which distorts decision-making and binds us to short-term thinking. His latest book, Distancing, unpacks the science and practice of decision-making from outside the narrow lens of our "immersed self".
Marquet explains how to escape the trap of defending past choices and why adopting the perspective of someone else, somewhere else, or sometime else can unlock breakthrough clarity. The concept is simple: by shifting perspective —adopting the point of view of our future self, someone else, or a distant observer — we can challenge the baggage of our past choices and see new possibilities.
This isn't just the squishy "walk a mile in someone else's shoes." Marquet shows that asking his Naval subordinates to literally sit in his seat and solve problems from the Captain's chair transformed their responses, not because of added information, but because of changed perspective.
The implications are profound: getting out of the "world behind your eyeballs" can help you unlock ideas and pathways that were previously invisible.
"Creative breakthroughs come after you step back, not after you push harder." - L. David Marquet
Marquet partnered with organizational psychologist Michael A. Gillespie to reveal something counterintuitive about human psychology. Our accumulated decisions become blinders; yesterday's brilliant choices can box us in today. We're wired to view everything from our own point of view, especially under stress or criticism, which pulls us deeper into a "me-centered" loop.
Self-distancing offers us a chance to get out of the box. Whether it's journaling as your future self, asking what advice you'd give a friend, or physically changing your environment, small shifts can provide the clarity to lead with intention rather than urgency.
The Immersion Trap
Most of us live our professional lives in what Marquet calls the "immersed self,” experiencing everything from behind our own eyeballs. This creates a condition where critical feedback feels like an existential threat. We become so invested in our own story, our own decisions, our own perspective, that we lose the ability to see clearly.
The moments that define your legacy won't be delivered to your inbox with a blinking neon arrow. They'll show up disguised as triffling distractions or easy choices. When we're immersed, we miss these moments because we're too busy protecting what we've already built.
That's the Immersed Self at work: so focused on protecting our past decisions that we can't see new possibilities.
Get to Know Future You
One of the most practical applications of distancing is what Jeff Bezos called the "regret minimization framework." By imagining yourself decades down the line, you bypass the anxieties and compulsions of the present. Future-you doesn't sweat the small stuff and can focus on decisions that really matter. That’s what I’m exercising when I think about Clew in 2035. It feels like a light pipeline is the beginning of the end, but what if it’s just a tiny blip on the historical record?
The trick is creating real distance so that Future You can help Present You minimize regret and act courageously today, rather than succumbing to inertia or short-term relief. This isn't a motivational speaker telling you that no one on their death bed ever wishes they spent more time at work; it's a practical decision-making tool that creates psychological distance from the emotional intensity of current challenges.
Step out of your current reality and ask, "If I called my older, wiser self for advice right now, what would they urge me to do next?" The shift in pronouns from "I" to "they" can create enough distance to see more clearly.
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We are most likely to make decisions from a defensive and self-centered state in stressful situations. That’s when we prioritize safety over boldness. Learning to recognize immersion triggers can help leaders and creatives who want to stay innovative.
Some warning signs that you're trapped in the immersed self:
You find yourself defending processes simply because you created them
Feedback feels like a personal attack rather than useful information
You're prioritizing short-term relief over long-term goals
Every decision feels urgent and high-stakes
You can't imagine any perspective other than your own
Recognizing these immersion triggers is the first step to regaining objectivity. The goal isn't to never be immersed — that would also be bad. The goal is to notice when you're too immersed and have tools to step back when it matters.
L. David Marquet, Retired U.S. Navy Captain
"Be someone else; be somewhere else; be sometime else."
Five Unsexy Comms Projects
Even the most mundane assets deserve a strategic foundation. So while you're putting out fires, let me take some lingering chores off your plate. Here are five specific ways I can help with the projects no one wants to own.
Ask yourself what you'd do if you just started today, or if you were stepping into your own role fresh—no baggage, no ego. Pick one process, system, or approach in your work that you created or strongly advocate for. Now imagine you're brand new to this role and encountering this process for the first time. Write a brief assessment: What works? What doesn't? What would you change? I am currently doing this with the homepage on my website, so I can attest to how uncomfortable this can be.
The goal is to see your own work with fresh eyes. You might discover that something you've been defending out of habit actually needs updating, or you might gain renewed confidence in choices you made for good reasons.
The Advice Switch: When facing a difficult decision this week, write yourself advice as if you were counseling a friend with your exact situation. Use their name instead of "you" and write in the voice of someone who cares about them but has no personal investment in the outcome.
J.D. Salinger, Original Phoney
Curiosity
In the movie Field of Dreams, James Earl Jones plays Terence Mann, one of the characters who hears the “Go the distance” message. When I first saw the film, I assumed that there really was an author named Terence Mann, and I’m pretty sure I tried to find “his” book The Boat Rocker in the local library. I have loved this movie for many years, but never read the source material. If I had, I’d have known that in the novel Shoeless Joe, Ray Kinsella goes off to find real-life reclusive author J.D. Salinger. Salinger was pissed off at the portrayal in the novel and threatened to sue.
What makes self-distancing so powerful is how it reveals the wisdom and compassion we already possess. When people are asked what advice they'd give someone else facing their exact situation, they consistently offer more constructive, hopeful, and practical guidance than they give themselves. We all carry within us a calm, compassionate advisor; we just need the right mental conditions to access that perspective.
The beauty of self-distancing is that it’s readily available and costs zero dollars. In the moment, it helps you make better decisions. Over time, it helps you become the kind of person who naturally sees beyond their the immediate situation. So, the next time you need to solve a tough problem, try David Marquet’s advice: “Be someone else; be somewhere else; be sometime else.”
The Question
What feels urgent and high-stakes in your life right now that might look completely different from a 10-year perspective?
And now for the Mystery Link!
You did it! You've made it all the way to the end of this essay. Here’s your treat. This week we’ve got links to candles that I’d rather not smell. So, which will you choose: Door Number One or Door Number Two?
(or buy me a coffee.) Meet Nancy Martira. I'm a brand strategist and communications consultant who brings endless curiosity to every project. If you've got a challenge that needs a fresh, unexpected perspective, let's talk!
Communications consultant, brand strategist, & Wonder Work creator. Curious about everything from terrible orchestras to happiness algorithms. Feed your curiosity; starve the doom — one small idea at a time. Let's wonder!
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