When to Turn Your Life Into Fun Games?

Whenever you need a hand, even if only a little. Or you can do it now, even if you don’t need help. It’s always worth it.

When does it make sense to turn something or anything into games?

The answer is, “Any time. Especially any time you need help.”

You see, when you are in the flow, your work is progressing well, and you are enjoying what you are doing, then you don’t need help. You already have fun with whatever you do. You might say that you are inside a fun game of that project or activity. You experience life or whatever you are up to as an exciting game. So, please don’t stop the flow when you are in it.

But if there is no flow — and that happens every once in a while — and if you have stepped off your happy, productive path and feel lost, then you can use turning your life into games to help you. Self-Gamification — and the three approaches it embraces — allows you to return to the flow.

When you observe that the project or activity is stalling, and you are continually forcing yourself to move in leaps (especially mental ones) that you can’t really achieve (and are suffering because of it), then stop.

Next, be your own anthropologist by observing the situation you are in, your state of mind, and what there is to be done.

Then, as a designer, adjust your game-design so that you, as a player, enjoy your project game.

And finally, as an avid player, identify your next, small and effortless, step in the game and take it.

To maintain balance, you need to move one small step at a time. That applies both to our physical state (when we’re awake) and our mental one.

Self-Gamification and the approaches it embraces gave me the tools to solve challenges in creative and sometimes wholly unexpected ways, helping me reach my goals and beyond.

My experiences taught me that the best time to practice Self-Gamification, and indeed anything else we really want to do, is now. And to do it again and again. At least when we need a hand in uplifting our mood and motivating ourselves.

As you probably know yourself, there are many times in a day when you might experience discomfort or upset. These can be big or small.

Even if we think we haven’t had significant challenges for some time, we often have little upsets that we ignore and resist, which can gather into a bigger one that eventually explodes. Then we think we don’t know how it happened or why.

Awareness, kaizen, and gamification are brilliant in helping you become aware of each or at least most of those little upsets, compensate or bypass them by making small steps toward your goals and dreams, and appreciate those steps in a gameful way.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed reading the story above, then in addition to those quoted in it, you might also like this one:

This article is based on the content from the following books:

P.S. To keep in touch, subscribe to my newsletter, Optimist Writer.