5 Lessons Video Games Can Teach You About Life

Level up your life, gamer style

A broken PlayStation controller.

A smashed keyboard.

An over-clicked mouse.

Yep, gaming can be pretty frustrating.

However, it can also be very rewarding. Just think back on that time you finally beat that level or boss that you were stuck on for 10+ hours..

Or that time you finally got that item you were hunting down.

These types of games can give you the most satisfaction, as they provide a sense of achievement and accomplishment throughout the game.

Especially when it is required to grow, build and progress to conquer various levels and beat the bosses.

The feeling of building something and seeing it progress is addicting for a reason.

The same goes for life.

Life and video games might not be as different as we think.

Sure, we don’t have the option to start over when we die.

But there are quite a few similarities between video games and life.

For instance, they both offer a sense of achievement and joy when you accomplish something worthwhile.

They both require time and effort to advance further.

And they both can be frustrating and hard to figure out at times.

To help us advance in our lives, video games can offer us a few vital lessons.

1. Gamify your to-dos

Video games often reward you for achieving something. Be it with points, an item, or the next level.

This ‘gamification’ can be applied to your life, as well.

Many studies use gamification in their interventions. It is a technique of using gameplay elements to enhance motivation to progress.

Let me give you an example.

Say you need to finish a task at work that you’re not looking forward to.

You can motivate yourself by challenging yourself to finish it in a short amount of time.

Or you can reward yourself with a small ‘prize’ (a cup of coffee, a snack, some phone time) when you finish the task.

This way you can motivate yourself to finish what needs to be done whilst having some fun with it.

“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” — Lou Holtz

2. Upgrade your character

It is vital to upgrade your character in video games. If you don’t, you will not be strong, fast, or skilled enough to go through the story and beat the bosses.

In the same way, you need to upgrade yourself in your life if you want to ‘beat the bosses’ (read: attain your goals and be happy).

Upgrading yourself can be done in a lot of ways.

You can upgrade your physical body, by eating healthier, drinking more water, and exercising.

You can grow your relationships by investing time and effort into them.

You can build your wealth by investing your money.

You can get to a certain level of expertise by taking courses, reading books, and building your skills.

Upgrading yourself like this will help you to go to the next level in your life.

3. Advance to the next level

Leveling up in video games usually happens when you get a certain amount of points.

By upgrading yourself and gamifying your to-dos, you set yourself up to level up.

By leveling up, I mean advancing to the next step in your life.

Be it finding your own place to live.

Graduating from school.

Getting a job or promotion.

Starting your own company.

Finding your dream partner and getting married.

It all depends on the vision you have for your life, and where you see yourself in a year, 5 years, or 10 years from now.

But it is not always all that easy to achieve this vision by yourself. That’s where others come in.

4. Ask for help from fellow players

Sometimes in video games, you can ask a fellow player to join in on your game to help you beat a boss or do another task that is hard to accomplish on your own.

Why not do that in life too?

Too often, we feel like we need to do everything by ourselves (at least, I do).

But this is not the case. We are humans in the end, and humans need community.

We need socialising and we need others to help us advance in our lives.

Be it by asking for advice, getting help with studying, getting financial help, or receiving moral support.

It is okay to ask for help. You don’t have to go it alone.

Get yourself a fellow player or community to help you level up your life and beat your ‘bosses’.

“It’s dangerous to go alone, take this!” — Old Man, The Legend of Zelda

5. Beat your challenges like you beat video game bosses

Beating bosses is a big part of many video games.

The same can be said for life.

But in life, bosses come in the form of challenges that stand in the way of your vision and your dream life.

Challenges can be internal, such as self-doubt, limiting beliefs, fear or your Ego.

But challenges can also be external, such as not having the time, means or knowledge to accomplish something.

Whatever the challenge may be, don’t give up.

You also don’t just give up in a video game, right?

No, you would most likely try again, change your strategy, upgrade your character, level up some more, ask for help, or look up tips on how to beat the boss.

You can do all this in life, as well.

You can motivate yourself by gamifying the harder tasks.

You can google ways to achieve what you want.

You can ask others for help or advice.

You can spend time working on upgrading your skills and leveling yourself up so you’re more equipped to deal with life’s challenges.

And eventually, you will be ‘beefy’ (read: skilled, knowledgeable, resilient) enough to beat the bosses and achieve your goals.

“Stay focused, believe that you can achieve at the highest level, surround yourself with others who believe in you, and do not stray from your goal.” — Zach Ertz

Key takeaways

There are many lessons to be learned from video games that we can apply in life to motivate us and help us advance in our lives.

These lessons include:

• Gamifying boring or difficult tasks to motivate yourself to accomplish them
• Upgrading yourself so you can be a better version of yourself and level up your life
• Leveling up your life to achieve your life’s vision
• Asking others for help in your quest for your vision
• Overcoming your challenges with effort and determination

We tend to take life a tad too seriously sometimes, and we get discouraged when things don’t go the way we planned.

However, by changing our perspective on life and reframing it as if it were a video game, it could give us that extra edge of motivation and excitement to start making moves in our lives and to persevere when things get a little tough.

I hope you found this perspective on life entertaining and refreshing.

I hope it will help you get motivated and get excited about your life.

There is so much out there for us.

All we need to do is get motivated, upgrade ourselves, level up our lives, and keep going.

So what do you say, ready to level up?

Love,

J

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