How to Level-up Your Character in the Game Of Life

A tutorial with some tips and cheats on how to ensure your character (you) can level up and reach its full potential in the game of life!

In this article, I use the metaphor that life is a videogame because I know how tiring it can be to read five self-help books in a month just to not follow any of the advice. Of course, we all want to follow the advice we read, but we don’t.

In an attempt to make advice easier to digest, let’s pretend that you are a videogame character that you are controlling and take a dive into this tutorial and find out how to level-up and reach your full potential!

You will realise a lot of these are highly achievable by the average person, because no, the average person cannot wake up at 4am and take a cold shower. Thankfully, there is so much you can do.

Sticking to things is undeniably hard. Don’t jump head-first into any of these tips. Take it slow, and don’t beat yourself up. Write them down somewhere you will see them every day. Baby steps are the key.

Physical health

You need to ensure that you are in good physical health because unfortunately your character built with a really fragile and complex physiological system. Over time, you’ll notice your “physical health” bar go down.

Thankfully, there are things that you can do to ensure a higher chance of a long and healthy life!

1. Get your character moving.

• Improved blood flow — increases your character’s energy levels.
• Strengthened bones, muscles, and connective tissue by increasing levels of synovial fluid which lubricates and nourishes your cartilage and connective tissue.
• Reduces risk of all-cause mortality.

This is an all-around undeniably important tip for your character’s health. With age, it will become more and more difficult to live with natural wear and tear. With consistent exercise, you can make sure your character will not have to suffer through this anywhere near as much.

2. Eat well.

This one is so crucial, and thankfully not as difficult to get right as most people think.

Eating well helps with:

• Heart health.
• Energy levels.
• Immune system.
• Increasing longevity!

Use an online calculator to calculate your needed caloric input, as well as your macronutrient input, all depending on what your goal is!

Once you figure this out, you can either choose to go full-in and track every single calorie you are taking in, or you can choose to go down a more intuitive route.

If you want precise results, and quicker, then track your calories. However, if you know this will be too difficult for you to achieve, then simply look at the numbers (e.g. for me, I need 160 grams of protein a day), and take an educated guess as to whether you are reaching that or not. I know for a fact I am taking in a lot less than 160 grams, so I need to make sure to increase it.

This method is good if you do not have very strict goals for your character, and rather simply want to slowly see changes over time. This method will take a lot of trial and error, and a lot of time.

Also, do not forget your micronutrients! Vitamins and minerals are crucial too.

A piece of advice I really like in the world of nutritional science is this:

Choose 3 of your favourite foods from each food group; carbs, fats, protein, dairy, fruits and vegetables, plus an extra two cheat foods. Make meals out of these and eat according to your daily caloric needs. This should also cover your micronutrients, but always check with a doctor just in case of any deficiencies!

3. Meditate.

[DISCLAIMER] Meditation is not simply sitting cross-legged on the floor chanting. There are many different types, and so many studies showing its sheer power and benefits.

You may not realise it, but when your character’s stress level is high, a lot of physical damage is being done:

• Increase blood pressure.
• Sleep problems.
• Increased rate of neurodegeneration with age.
• Decreases general brain function.
• Increased chances of all-cause mortality.

Meditation works by:

• Reducing stress by directly lowering your sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and activating your parasympathetic nervous system (when we’re calm and at rest). This lowers cortisol levels. This has a cascade effect on our general health.
• Promoting healthy sleep.
• Improving blood flow and blood pressure.
• Improving the immune system.

4. Drink water

One bar you definitely need to keep track of is your character’s water intake!

You will need roughly between 3–4 litres a day. That’s about 16 glasses!

Some benefits include:

• Improves cellular functioning.
• Lubricates joints.
• Improves skin health.
• Prevents kidney damage.

And so much more…

5. Seek help

You will not always know exactly what’s going on in your character’s body. Sometimes, you will have to pop down to the doctor so they can check your stats.

If you enjoy alternative medicines and more spiritual remedies, that is okay, but your character will still benefit from seeking a standard medical practice alongside any remedies of your choosing (as long as you ensure they are safe).

These experts have dedicated their lives to understanding how the body works. If you need help, seek it.

6. Get your rest!

Sleep. Sleep is singlehandedly the most powerful tool for the body and the mind. I will revisit sleep in the mental health section, but sleep does play a crucial role in physical health too. For example:

• Repairs and grows tissue (especially if your character exercises!).
• Reduces the physical impacts of stress.
• Improves the immense system.
• Helps reduce the risk of neurodegeneration and disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.

If you can get your character to sleep between 7–9 hours, perfect!

Some tips to help ensure a good night’s sleep are:

• Getting enough daylight throughout the day.
• Sleep in a pitch-black room.
• No caffeine 6 hours before bed (yeah… I'm sorry!).
• No phone, computer, TV, etc, 30 minutes before bed.
• If you struggle to fall asleep, try meditating before going to bed.

Mental health

Now that you know how to ensure your character is in good physical health and will live longer, how can you ensure that their brain will continue to function as it should even at a higher age, and how can you ensure your character will remain as content as possible?

1. Meditate.

I put this at the top of the list of tips for mental health because of how phenomenally overlooked it is.

What is mediation?

It is NOT clearing your mind of all your thoughts.

It is a set of techniques to train awareness and focus.

Sounds simple, yet it is so powerful.

There are different types of meditation.

Within each type, let’s take mindfulness meditation as an example, there are so many different ways to perform it.

One of my favourite meditation practices is the single-pointed focus technique. Here is an overview:

• Pick one thing to focus on. For example, a spot on your wall.
• Stare at this for as long as you can, or until you can feel the negative feeling subside.
• Try and focus and look, without breaking eye contact, on your peripheral vision. What can you see in your surroundings outside of your focal point?

It sounds silly, but it works.

Many studies show links between meditation and differences in brain structure and also cognitive functioning.

Some more examples of the psychological benefits of meditation are:

• Stress reduction, as previously mentioned.
• Improved memory and focus.
• Managing anxiety.
• Improved overall mood.

One of the most powerful skills your character can master is the skill of meditation. Choose any type that suits you and practice it as often as you can.

2. Socialise

Your character needs social interactions! Yes, even those with higher levels of introversion.

Something important to note is that socialising does not look the same to everyone.

Personally, I much prefer sitting in a coffee shop with a loved one and talking for hours on end about all the topics in the world compared to going out to a club and dancing to music.

Although I wouldn’t necessarily hate the latter, I know which one I prefer and can bring myself to do more often.

Take your character outside to some bars or join online games and turn on your mic if that’s more your style. If you really can’t speak to strangers, then phone up or message some old friends, and host an outing.

Socialising has huge effects on our minds:

• Enhances cognitive skills.
• Boosts your mood.
• Promotes longevity(!).
• Lowers the risk of dementia.

The most important thing when it comes to socialising, however, is to do it for your happiness. Don’t force yourself to socialise just to end up meeting people you can’t value your time with.

The point of socialising is to find people that can make you feel comfortable, safe, and valued, and to be able to reciprocate these things back.

3. Exercise, eat well, and drink water!

By now, you may have noticed a trend that a lot of tips that improve your character’s physical health also improve your mental health!

• Make sure you are eating foods from each food group to ensure you reach your daily macronutrient and micronutrient requirements!

Being active is also incredibly important for our mental health. For example, it:

• Increases feel-good hormones, enhancing our mood.
• Reduces anxiety levels.
• Improves sleep.
• Helps manage depression and anxiety!

Water also keeps our minds in check! Most of our brain is made up of water. Most of our body is made of water. in fact.

So, definitely make sure your character is taking in enough water.

4. Sleep

Yes, this again.

There is so much on why sleep is vital for good mental health. I will simply list several examples:

• Brain function. Your brain processes emotions, memories, and thoughts during sleep.
• Cognitive function. We all know how cloudy our thinking gets when we have a lack of sleep.
• It can almost entirely dictate your mood.
• Reduces stress.
• Controls emotional regulation. Bad sleep over time increases our risk of developing mental health conditions.
• Lack of sleep highly exacerbates the risk of illnesses such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.

5. Seek professional help

For this section, I will drop the metaphor of life being a videogame because I feel as if that would be misplaced here.

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, things will be out of our control. As amazing as stoicism and Buddhism truly are, we are not incredible unstoppable forces of nature.

We are weak. We are vulnerable. There is nothing wrong with this.

There are professionals in this world who are here to help us when we have exhausted all of our options.

I know some people are put off by therapy, especially people who have undergone therapy and it did not help them. But I do want to remind you that there are so many different types of therapy, and if some do not work for you, be transparent about it and try something else.

I truly believe that we can all find our way in this life, whether that will take a few months or several years. I’m not going to say that the struggle will all be worth it in the end, but I will say that we owe it to ourselves to not give up.

Help is out there. We just have to go look for it sometimes.

Cheats

Outside of the tips I have given you to progress in this complex game, some things are always overlooked that can boost your quality of life and overall level!

1. Learn to breathe!

• How you breathe can strongly influence a plethora of factors, including mood, focus, and physical energy levels!
• To put it simply: breathe in through the nose, and out through the nose.
• Visit the doctor to check to see if you have a deviated septum (like me), making it difficult to breathe through your nose.
• If you do not want surgery, then you can buy nasal dilators or nasal strips online for quite cheap. These do the job! It has reduced my brain fog, increased my concentration, and increased my energy levels.

2. Pee before bed!

• The most common reason I wake up in the middle of the night is because I need to pee!
• Sleep should be completely uninterrupted, otherwise, the cycle is broken, and sleep is more or less ruined.
• Pee before going to bed!

3. If you do wake up in the middle of the night, or you are struggling to fall asleep, get up, go pee and maybe read a book.

• You may not want to get out of bed, but do it. Ultimately, it will be worth it.
• Your body will sort of reset and perhaps you’ll even find out why you’ve been struggling to sleep.
• Sometimes, reading a book for even just 5 minutes will help you fall back asleep.

4. Wear socks to bed!

• It helps regulate your body temperature.

5. As soon as you notice any form of negative emotional feeling, such as feeling overwhelmed, change your surroundings!

• Either leave the room, stand up if you’ve been sitting down, or stop listening to music if you’re listening to music, etc.
• Simply change whatever is going on externally, and see if it helps.
• Take some deep breaths, and maybe go for a walk.
• This is especially helpful when you can’t tell what’s bothering you.

6. Play Tetris if you need to distract yourself!

• This one is quite specific, but it really helps.
• The cognitive task of playing Tetris helps distract you, while still letting the rest of your brain process whatever is going on.
• Some recent studies have shown that playing Tetris within hours after experiencing a traumatic event can even help reduce PTSD symptoms.

7. Keep your brain active!

• Sadly, our minds are fragile. Over time, our cognitive abilities start to decline.
• However, keeping your mind sharp through activities such as puzzles, socialising with others, and reading, drastically improves your mind’s health over your lifetime.

8. Read up on different philosophies!

• Look into philosophies such as stoicism or Buddhism, for example.
• Different philosophies can help guide you in certain aspects of your life.
• I am not a Buddhist, but a lot of Buddhist principles resonate with me deeply and have influenced how I go about my daily life.

9. Floss!

• I think this one everyone knows why it’s helpful, but not many people do it!
• Honestly, the absolute horridness of gum disease and any mouth-related health issue is not worth it. Floss…

Conclusion

Your character needs to move more, socialise more, think more, and stress less.

Life isn’t easy, but we can certainly take action to make it easier.

I’m sure I missed a lot of important tips here and there, so if you can think of any, I would love to hear them and discuss them in the comments!