The Status Portfolio
Build value in several groups so one setback cannot define you
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 92%
Storr recommends playing multiple status games rather than allowing one hierarchy to carry an entire identity. A person can have a position at work, a valued role in a sports team, a religious community, a volunteer group, a family, or a craft. Because each group rewards different contributions, a setback in one game need not erase every source of value. Storr says research is clear that people with more status games and group memberships tend to show greater personality stability and happiness, though the transcript does not establish the design or limits of those studies. He applies the idea personally by seeking volunteering and renewed friendships alongside writing. The portfolio metaphor is therefore protective, not acquisitive: participate meaningfully in several communities, contribute to them, and avoid treating any single rank as the whole measure of a life.
Origin
Storr presents multiple games as advice from The Status Game and admits that his own identity remains unusually concentrated in writing.
Core principles
- 01One status game makes identity vulnerable to one source of loss
- 02Different groups can value different contributions
- 03Connection and status are related needs but not the same thing
- 04A new game should involve genuine participation and contribution
- 05Diversification reduces concentration; it does not eliminate hierarchy or disappointment
How to run it
- 1
Inventory your games
List the groups, crafts, roles, and communities in which you receive or contribute value. Include informal groups, not only employment and public achievement.
Pro tip Distinguish active participation from merely following a community online.
- 2
Measure concentration
Ask which single loss would make you feel that everything had failed. Treat that answer as evidence of an overconcentrated identity.
Pro tip Consider retirement, redundancy, injury, ageing, and relationship change.
Watch out This is a reflection tool, not a clinical assessment.
- 3
Choose a meaningful second game
Select a group where the contribution and relationships matter independently of your main career. Ensure its values are compatible with your own.
Pro tip Choose a game you would still value without public recognition.
- 4
Contribute before ranking
Attend, help, practise, or serve consistently before pursuing formal standing. Let value emerge from participation rather than treating the new group as another trophy.
Pro tip Set a small recurring commitment you can sustain.
Watch out Chasing rank immediately can reproduce the same concentration in a new setting.
- 5
Rebalance over time
Review whether the portfolio includes both status and connection and whether one game still consumes every resource. Adjust commitments as life changes.
Pro tip Ask whether a setback now feels specific rather than total.
Watch out More commitments are not automatically better if they create overload.
In the wild
Storr says writing is his dominant game and that he plans to volunteer partly to gain another source of status and partly to address a lack of connection. He frames the additional role as protection against the effects of ageing on his writing identity.
→ Volunteering could add contribution and contact beyond the single hierarchy of professional writing.
In the discussion, Bartlett notes that someone with low formal rank at work might also captain a Sunday league team. Storr agrees with the broader point that people play multiple local games rather than comparing themselves with everyone in society.
→ A second group offers a distinct arena for contribution and value.
Common mistakes
Collecting titles instead of belonging
The protective effect comes from real participation and contribution, not merely adding labels to a biography.
Overloading the portfolio
Adding too many commitments can damage health and connection rather than create resilience.
Treating diversification as treatment
Multiple groups may be protective, but they are not a substitute for crisis or mental-health care.
Is it for you?
Best for
People whose identity is concentrated in one role or who are approaching a career, age, or relationship transition.
Not ideal for
Using extra groups as a substitute for professional help during depression, suicidal thinking, or acute crisis.
From the transcript
“the more status games people play in their life, the more sources of status they have”
“I want to have another source of status to protect myself”
From the episode
The More Successful You Are The Longer You’ll Live: Will Storr