There are some games in this life that I’d rather lose.
And it’s important to know which ones those are.
Because losing is always going to feel like losing.
But the truth is that if you’re a slave to ‘Winning’; you’re still just a slave.
Gaining influence over someone by playing games that I don’t want to play is, for me, like winning a car that I don’t want to drive.
If, to win your respect, approval, affection, I must play a game that is not me, and that I would not choose; then even if I win, I’ve already lost.
Another thing:
Every person, including myself, is a set of problems. When you ‘win’ that person’s attentions, you have won the problems that this person represents.
You could take any statement of a human being and replace the term ‘set of problems’. 
Original Statement: Whoa! That woman has a really beautiful body!
Translation: Whoa! That set of problems has a really beautiful body!
Original Statement: I hope that I made a good impression on that interviewer and that I’ll get the job.
Translation: I hope that I made a good impression on that set of problems and that I’ll get the job.
I’m not saying that a ‘set of problems’ is all we are. But it’s definitely part of what we are. And it’s one of the parts that we love to ignore.