The Best Non-Hippie Bullsh*t Life Quote
Finally, something that resonates
I wish I could be inspired by meaningful and thoughtful quotes. Or at least, inspired long enough for me to remember them. I’ve never heard anything and thought, “Whoa…I gotta get that tattooed in Chinese with misprints on my shoulder!”
“Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively” and “Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk” sound good in theory, but sorry Mr. Dalai Lama, they don’t resonate with me. Something must be wrong with me because Mr. Rogers’ quotes like, “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today” aren’t getting me amped for life.
Then I read: Life is a game, and you’re Player One.
BOOM! Did you hear that mic drop?
If you’re not a gamer, then this expression is meaningless. But if you’ve played even Mario Kart a few times, you get the gist of a video game. Video games are designed to:
- challenge you
- get incrementally harder
- try to stump you
- throw curves and loops when you least suspect them
- not be easy
Since hearing this quote, I’ve shifted my mindset when I face a challenge. Instead of wallowing over the existence of a problem, I tackle it with a sense of, “okay, how do I solve this to get to the next level?” Leveling up means the problem has taught me a lesson that I’ll use in my next challenge.
It’s not that life has screwed me over by throwing these curveballs. Instead, having Dark Elves with weapons storming at me is life and my task is to beat them as efficiently and swiftly as possible.
When I avidly played Diablo III (a game where you wander around towns with undead creatures attacking you), I enjoyed the brief pauses between attacks but always kept myself ready. As I marched on through town, I knew at any moment I would be attacked by a horde of skeletons. My goal was to get these monsters out of my way because I need to reach the other side.
That’s my perspective with my problems now. This second, I’m doing okay. But around the corner, I’m going to face a challenge. And when I do, I need to outsmart it so that I can move forward. I actually imagine it in a physical space; the challenge is right in front of me and I can’t leave where I’m standing until it’s conquered.
This new philosophy helped me develop a Growth Mindset. I cringe using that term because they teach it to children in elementary school. The gist is that instead of your normal doomsday way of thinking, you spin it into something more logical and rational. It also means that you don’t view a problem as unsolvable.
Before Growth Mindset: Crap, I bombed that presentation. I made my team look bad and I look like an idiot.
With Growth Mindset: Crap, I didn’t blow them away with that presentation. I’ll get the team together and ask them to give me advice on how I could have improved. I’ll also reach out to the meeting attendees and write out more thoughtful answers to the questions raised.
The other day I found myself frustrated at someone for not replying to an urgent message. My brain began to spiral, thinking that she purposely snubbed me or that she didn’t find it important. Instead, I thought “well…maybe she’s in a coma. I can’t be pissed until I know she’s alive.”
Okay, not the best example of a Growth Mindset. But instead of going down my usual rabbit hole of irritation, I rationalized it in a way that meant it wasn’t personal. It also allowed me to have patience until she eventually did message me back.
The philosophy of Life is a game, and you’re Player One shapes one’s perspective completely different. When before you might have wallowed in a “why does this happen to me” state, frame it instead as “Okay Life…I see what you did there. I can beat this Raid Boss problem. I got this.”