5 Ways to Gamify Your Life and Constantly Level Up
Wielding dopamine the right way is life-transforming
If you’ve ever been a gamer, you’ll know how orgasmic it feels — and that’s exactly what makes it so dangerous.
The neurotransmitter dopamine governs our drive—it’s the brain’s reward system. Ideally, when you perform a meaningful piece of work, it’s released to make you “feel-good”.
But games, drugs, and porn are cheat codes — they cause a flood of dopamine for no work. Now, from thence will the drive to study, write an article, work out, or improve yourself come from?
From Assassin’s Creed in middle school to COD in college, I’ve witnessed the devastating effects of gaming firsthand.
In the year since I’ve ceased it, I’ve grown more than in the preceding 5 years.
I’m actually still playing — but this time, it’s the game of life.
I want to share 5 simple ways to gamify your life — when you use dopamine the right way, your life will transform.
‘Statify’ Yourself
GTA San Andreas is one of my most memorable games — set in the fictional copy of Los Angeles in the early 1990s, you live as CJ.
By finishing a mission, hitting the gym, dressing up better, getting a stylish haircut, or eating at Cluckin’ Bell, you can beef up CJ’s stats — respect, stamina, sex appeal, driving skill, etc.
Like CJ, you can find and upgrade your own stats — looks, knowledge, social skills, inner peace, fitness, money, and wisdom.
Grab a notepad and rate every aspect of your life on a scale of 1 to 10 — from zero progress to what you think your maximum potential is.
The beauty of “Statifying” yourself is you get to replicate the intense dopamine rush of leveling up — every time a stat notches up by a point, you’ll feel it.
But this demands time and effort. Unlike GTA, real-life doesn’t give you cheat codes. While all it takes is a “LEANANDMEAN” code for a buff physique, in our world, it takes 5 to 10 years of dedicated training.
“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty. I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
Work on your Skill-Wheel
In Prototype, one of my favorite games, the godly mutant Alex Mercer has a skill wheel — to permute and combine multiple skills. You start with an empty wheel and as the story progresses; you unlock new ones.
We all have skill wheels — but few of us try to populate it or upgrade the existing ones.
Writing, marketing, speaking, video-editing, filming, there’s no dearth of skills — and with the internet, it’s never been easier to master them from scratch
Even the weirdest of skills, such as catching snakes or raising one eye-brow have guides. For the normal ones? — MOOCs, YouTube videos, Reddit threads, articles, etc., the list of sources is endless.
Here, you have two choices — expand your skill wheel or gain deep expertise in a few skills. But as Tim Ferris explains, in today's world, a generalist is superior to a specialist.
This is thanks to the learning curve — becoming good at something isn’t hard, but becoming great is unbelievably difficult.
If you’re a generalist like me, you can develop multiple income streams, synergize skills, and stay safe — no matter how much the world changes, you can adapt your repertoire.
As a specialist, you’ll have a single income but can gain extra revenue through teaching — courses, coaching, workshops, etc.
But if the morphing world renders your skill irrelevant, you’ll be in deep trouble.
Build and Expand Your Clan
Clash of Clans is an online multiplayer game that devoured my late middle school and early high-school years.
With defenses to fortify, an army to train, and villages to raid, you had to be part of a clan — a community of villages that could share troops and resources.
Creating a close-knit writing group showed me the power of real-life clans — If not for them, I wouldn’t have had viral articles or top writer tags.
With success being a positive-sum game, a clan creates synergy — every member succeeds more than he otherwise would have alone.
Since humans are deeply social creatures, your clans can shape your entire life. So surround yourself with positive well-wishers that push you to be better.
Once you do so, value and look out for them — give more than you take to fortify deep relationships.
Be on The Lookout for Life’s Hidden Quests
In open-world games like Red Dead Redemption, you can unlock hidden quests by exploring the world—some offer ultra-rare trinkets as rewards.
Life’s similar — you won’t believe how I started writing here.
During last year’s lockdown, a random stock market crash article got me intrigued. Within a few days, I learned the bare fundamentals and dove into the stock market. Soon, finance became a passion.
To share my newfound knowledge, I wrote a finance article. And well, the rest is history.
Exploring with a curious and open mind will yield diamonds — talk to strangers, keep your eyes open for opportunities and say yes to new experiences.
Adapt and Adjust Your Deck of Cards
In Clash Royale, you fight with a deck of 8 cards. Each card is a troop type with different deploy times, abilities, and elixir costs.
With both you and the opponent having the same elixir, the game burns down to smartly picking your cards and optimally using your elixir. Based on your level and win rate, you’ll have to tweak or change your decks.
Life’s a similar battle — failure to adapt your deck of cards to the circumstances will drive you into an inescapable rut.
What are the cards you might ask? They’re your habits, core beliefs, values, opinions, and perspectives.
Growing up with a single mother, my grandpa was my father figure. His recent unexpected death changed everything for us, but I adapted.
“When we are no longer able to change a situation — we are challenged to change ourselves.”
— Viktor Frankl
Bonus: Reward Even the Tiniest of Your Wins
I couldn’t find a relevant game analogy, so am giving this one to you as a bonus.
Research shows your brain treats a particular behavior as desirable if there’s a predictable reward for it. This is positive reinforcement.
While dopamine is a good enough reward, you can augment it with material ones — the added reward motivates you to work harder. It also validates and makes the win seem valuable.
Didn’t f*ck up a single meal in your weekly diet? Treat yourself to a Sunday cheat meal. Wrote three articles straight? Leisurely read and nap for an hour. The personal project you worked your ass off for 3 months is finally live?
Guiltlessly take a week off. As the proverb goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
