Inspiration and Life

Let’s up Your Game of Life

Why play the game at all?

Life is much like a game of chess. How good are you at it? Not chess, but the game of life.

Did you know the average chess player can see only one to three moves ahead, whereas a grand master may see eight to fifteen or more, depending on whom you believe?

How many moves in life can you think ahead? Let’s look at this game of life in which we are all players.

So many moves!

Some claim there are “more possible games of chess than atoms in the universe”! While this statement seems unbelievable, the point is there’s an almost unlimited number of moves in the game of chess.

The same is true for the game of life. Considering how many moving parts there are in life compared to the 32 pieces on a chess board, life is infinitely more complex!

While the game of chess can end in a stalemate, there is only one winner in the game of life. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you eventually lose — at least in this earthly realm.

With the reality that no one wins the game of life in the fleshly bodies we currently possess, we may want to think as many moves ahead as we can to live a good life.

Examining the game

It’s never too late to examine your life. As an ancient Greek philosopher said long ago:

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates (c.470–399 BC)

But how does one go about examining their life?

It is both simple and difficult. You must only ask yourself some simple questions that can be difficult to answer. The difficulty lies in answering the questions as truthfully as you can.

Some of the most impactful questions ever posed to me came from Jim Rohn, known as America’s foremost business philosopher. I remember like it was yesterday, in the early 1980s, driving down the highway, listening to one of Rohn’s many cassette tape series. Something he said struck me so forcefully that I almost stopped the car. He said:

“We can have more than we’ve got because we can become more than we are.” Jim Rohn (1930–2009)

This thought had never occurred to me. Then, on the same tape, Rohn stated:

“The most important question to ask on the job is not ‘What am I getting?’ The most important question to ask on the job is ‘What am I becoming?’” Jim Rohn (1930–2009)

This was a true wake-up call. The question “What am I becoming?” concerns you and where you are going. It’s about how you are growing. It shows you what is truly important and what is not important. It helps you see who you are now and who you want to be. This question is about the outcome of your life.

It’s working on your life, not just being consumed by working in it.

To fail to ask this question robs you of awareness about what is happening in your life.

In other words, life will just happen if you don’t give it thought. Instead, you can make decisions and take action to create the life you want.

Get serious and ask yourself, “What am I becoming?” Ask it in the context of your life, not just your job.

Game preparation

I challenge you, using your journal, to write an answer to the question “What am I becoming?” for 30 days. Write whatever comes to mind. Don’t stress over the answers. Just write. Review it, restate it, and continue until you are crystal clear. Within a month, you will gain amazing clarity about your life, your happiness, who you are, what you are becoming, and the significance you can create in the world.

Is it worth it to work on your life? Of course!

Something else Rohn admonished was to:

“Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” “ Jim Rohn (1930–2009)

From where does success on the job and in any part of life come? From who you are and what you’re becoming.

To go beyond success to true significance requires you to know yourself. What you get and give in life ultimately comes from who you are.

Final thoughts

Do you want to play the game of life well? If so, work on and invest in yourself. Become more than you are by becoming all that you can be. Realize that the only limit on who you can become is you!

Your life is of priceless value and is your most important asset and investment!

Putting forth a little effort now will give you a life that ends with much more satisfaction and far less regret. You will never regret working on your life instead of only in it.

It all starts with you! Become more than you are now. Continue working on yourself throughout your life. Create significance in the world.

Are you worth it? You bet! The next move on the board of life is up to you. I challenge you — make the next move!

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Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION

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