If you've ever played a good video game, chances are you've spent a lot of time on it. Games are a lot of fun. However, as we get older, we end up giving up games in favor of more productive activities. We come to deal with reality and be more practical.
Life doesn't have to be stale. We can confront reality just like in the virtual world. In fact, we live better when we approach life as a game.
1. Drive out your fear of failure
Have you ever been defeated in a game and declared that this is the end for you? Probably no. It would be absurd.
Yet in life, we often do this. As we grow and adjust to social norms and conventions, we have a fear of failure. This fear of failure crashes into us; Some, unfortunately, never overcome this fear at all and spend time on earth without living at all.
We see failure as a fatal blow instead of a scar that reminds us of the mistakes we have made. As a result, we live shyly and are afraid to take risks and explore new beginnings. The fear of failure becomes harmful.
This doesn't happen in games. Gamers rarely give up and lose motivation when they fail on a mission. Instead, they double up and learn from their mistakes before trying to repeat the same scenario. It often feels like they are on the verge of moving to the next stage or discovering something important that brings them there.
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This is perhaps best explained by the term "urgent optimism" coined by American game designer and author and author of SuperBetter, Jane McGonigal. She defines it in her TED talk as "a desire to act immediately to overcome an obstacle, coupled with a belief that we have a reasonable hope of success."
Why is there a difference in how we approach life and play? The answer is that we realize that we can always reboot and try again to overcome the obstacle before us. However, this is also true for life - we can always recover from each defeat.
Although the stakes in reality are certainly higher than in the virtual world, the optimal strategy is still the one we use in games. Moreover, we must approach life without fear of failure.
2. Create a mission
Games often come with fixed goals. Nowhere is this more evident in first-player shooters with game modes such as capture the flag. In these modes, the win is not determined by how many times you have killed the enemy, but by whether you have achieved your goal.
Interestingly, this gave rise to the term "objective play," which seems strange in itself, because what are you doing if you don't achieve your goal? However, this seems to be what everyone is doing. Like gamers obsessed with the ratio of murders and deaths, we pursue metrics such as money, prestige and social status, even if they do not meet our goals.
Games are fun because they provide a narrative that adds context and meaning to our lives. They provide purpose and direction - why we do what we do. This is often seen when quests are handed out, with clear directions on what we must do to make the story unfold.
Likewise, we are the protagonist in the game of life. Each of us has a unique quest to complete. A few lucky ones are born knowing what kind of quest it is, others must find it, and the rest need to create it for themselves. Without a quest, there is no goal to achieve, and therefore, there is no possible sense of satisfaction.
The main reason people are addicted to games is because they find more goals in the virtual world than in reality. Jane McGonigall cites a study by Carnegie Mellon University that found the average young person in a country with a strong gaming culture today will spend over 10,000 hours playing online games by age 21.
We can continue if we have a goal to which we are deeply committed. What would our life look like if we created an escape room for ourselves?
3. Give yourself time to complete the mission
If you think gaming is easy, think again. There is a reason the competitive gaming and esports industry exists.
10,000 hours is not a short period of time. According to Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Departed, you need 10,000 hours of practice to master your craft. Here's what it takes to climb to the top of your field.
With purpose comes productivity naturally. Directing your life towards a specific goal that interests you allows you to progress quickly. Games are unique in that they allow the individual to focus for an extended period of time.
More importantly, games have a distinct bias towards action. Regardless of the genre of your video game, there will be no game mechanics that intentionally force the user to twirl their fingers. A well-designed game always has something to do. When you take this approach in playing life, you will surely achieve more.
Life encourages execution, not just planning and thinking.
4. Reward yourself
Games often provide rewards in the form of new equipment or content after completing each mission. This not only advances the game's storyline, but also provides motivation for the individual to continue on with the next mission.
This is because rewards increase our dopamine levels, which energizes us and creates a pleasant aura. Dopamine is the same chemical in our brain that causes addiction to vices such as gambling, alcohol and nicotine. However, it can also be used to create progression dependencies - the same effect games use to entice people to spend hours glued to a gaming device.
We can recreate this environment by tracking and celebrating our little victories. This is already seen in the fitness industry, which has spawned several mobile apps that are all about rewarding workouts with points or even cold-blooded money.
While there are fears that many people end up doing things for rewards and losing sight of why they started, this remains a viable extrinsic motivation option. The best way would be to use rewards to maintain momentum and avoid burnout as you spend 10,000 hours chasing greatness.
5. Increase gradually
Games embody the very essence of the above thought. Well-designed games will have more complex scenarios than the previous one. As users gain experience and skills with game mechanics and strategies, they must complete tasks that require them to reinvent.
It is this process of constant renewal that allows us to grow rapidly. We have to adapt to new circumstances in games. Consequently, this adaptation provides us with new-found abilities and skill sets that continue to serve us in the long term and carry over to other endeavors.
The same thing happens in life. Biologically, we become stronger, adapting to the new requirements of our body. This is the main mechanism of muscle hypertrophy. Lifting weights makes us tense, creating micro tears in our muscles. To cope with this new stress, our body not only regenerates but also strengthens itself. The longer the time under tension, the faster the growth.
Helping with discomfort can be painful, but it is the fastest way to achieve rapid personal growth. This allows you to learn quickly by giving immediate feedback on what is going well and what is not.
When you are thrown into the deep end of the pool and forced to swim or drown, you will at least learn to wallow in the water. If you want to improve your standard of living, the fastest way is to make sure each task is on the edge of your comfort zone, if not outside it.
6. Seek support
If you've played any MMORPG, you'll notice that there is usually a group of people who have cemented their status as the best players in the game. These players have a large following, with many players imitating their strategies for climbing the leaderboard.
It's like life where we follow and reflect the routines of giants like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett. However, it differs in that we are often afraid to ask for support. We avoid contact with other people we consider outside of our league, although this is the fastest way forward.
For example, most MMORPGs have a feature that allows you to create parties / groups to complete challenging missions like boss raids. New players can often use this feature to get help from more reputable ones, allowing them to complete tasks that would have been impossible with their own strength. Rapid growth happens this way because they accept disproportionately complex problems with external support.
You can do the same too. Deliberately seek out people who are smarter, more knowledgeable, and more capable than you. These people will serve as your mentors. Don't be intimidated by the fact that you are always in the company of more experienced people - you can only benefit from them. As Jim Rohn says, "You are, on average, of the five people you spend the most time with."
Be the dumbest person in the room.
7. Deal with injustice
We have many complaints in our life. The odds never seem to stack in our favor. Nothing goes the way we want. A quick Google search lists some of the most common complaints from people:
- The weather is never perfect
- School just sucks
- Work - overworked, underpaid, useless
- Slow internet - never fast enough
- Money - seriously, is that enough?
As Randy Pausch says in The Last Lecture, we have no control over what happens to us, but only how we react. Gamers respond very well to unexpected incidents. They find ways to work around mistakes - which happen in even the best game - and continue their daily routines. Some even find ways to exploit loopholes in the game.
Likewise, the only thing we can do about perceived injustice is to fight it. You can either pass by or stay in the past, regardless of the cards you received. You can quit a video game if you don't like it, but you cannot quit the game of life.
An estimated 4 billion people do not have access to the Internet today. If you are reading this or have ever played a video game, know that you are doing better than half the world.
8. Monitor
The Game of Life is the biggest and most important MMORPG you will ever play. In this MMORPG, you dictate your own narrative and decide which path you take. There is no “win” condition. You are the main character in your own story - how far you go is up to you.
The game remains fun only because it excites us and continues to be a new experience. The same can be said for life: we must design it so that we are committed and deeply involved every day.
Start your own quest. Follow the road less traveled. Explore and experiment without fear of repercussions. Do what has never been done before. Live life on your own terms.
First of all, don't forget to enjoy the game of life.