If Life Was A Videogame – Would You Keep Playing It The Same Way?

What If Your Life Was A Videogame?

Imagine this game:

• Your character is randomly assigned at birth (no character creation option)
• The first 3 to 5 years are a cutscene you barely remember
• You’re stuck in tutorials until you’re either 18, 22, or even as old as your early 30s
• The graphics are great
• You only have 1 life and no resurrections (for the most part)
• The gameplay is often unexciting and monotonous – leveling up is difficult and frustrating

If life was a videogame, do you think this would describe it pretty accurately? More importantly, would you keep playing it the same way?

Our Day-to-Day Routines

For most of us, our lives involve some sort of day-to-day routine. Even for those of you still in school, your routine likely follows a path like this:

1. Wake up to an alarm and get ready for the day
2. Commute to work (or school)
3. Give your time to your employer to boost their profits and receive financial compensation in return (or invest your time in class so you can do this one day)
4. Commute back home
5. Either cook or buy dinner, run errands, watch a bit of TV, and go to sleep
6. Repeat 4 more times and receive 2 days off before starting over

Whether this reads back a lot like your schedule, or your schedule is a variation on this one, it begs a big question: Is this the life I want to live?

Or, put another way: if my life was a videogame, would I keep playing it this way?

Think about it – in what videogame would you spend the first 20 hours in a tutorial, the next 60 hours grinding and leveling, and then 15 to 20 hours actually playing and enjoying the game? By the way, about 30 hours in, your character becomes progressively weaker than before. 

Let’s do a thought exercise: Imagine if you were playing your life like a videogame.

Thought Exercise: Life As A Videogame

Think of the way we play videogames: highly engaged, more risk taking, and seeking maximum enjoyment. Now think of “playing” your life as a videogame: While obviously you would still be concerned with your character’s health and well-being, what are the chances you would keep playing it the same way?

All of a sudden, playing the same way you were doesn’t sound that appealing. Tiring yourself out and burning valuable time completing the same tasks over and over while solving other characters’ problems.

While I am not advocating this line of thinking in order to promote crime or any illegal or just plain shitty activity, I do think it’s obvious that most of us would make a different set of choices were our lives a videogame.

Sure, the same rules apply, but once free of the constraints of “I need to live my life this way” or “This is what society expects of me“, what’s stopping you from living the life you want to live?

Think of your bucket list, everything you want to do before you die. For me, that’s traveling the world, meeting awesome people, having memorable experiences, and living a life without regrets, no matter when I kick the bucket.

When it comes to living your dreams, there will always be a limitless number of reasons “not to do it”. But the voice inside of you that knows what you really want will only grow more full of regret as you grow older.

And your dreams are possible! If you want to travel the world it’s possible to do it for $50 a day. It’s easy to make this much per day working online or picking up jobs along the way.

If your dream involves something else, like starting your own business or being the first in your family to go to college, why wait?

For nearly every goal we might have, we can start working towards it today.

Pick Up The Controller

It’s time to pick up life’s controller. The objectives are whatever you want them to be. At the end of the day, you’re ultimately responsible for your character – the decisions you make and their consequences are yours. By that token, you are the only one who can make sure you reach your goals.

In a link I posted above, 2 well-known characters play a “life” videogame. One plays an average life, dies, and is unremarkable. Though some may think that was a great life (and if so, that is OK!), but many of us would have died wanting more. The next character burns his social security card and takes his character off-the-grid. Though more extreme than I would recommend, there’s something to be said for this approach.

We’re only given one life to live. To me, living any way other than the one you want, the one that maximizes your goals, is a mistake. Bound to die with regret. “Why didn’t I do that?”, “Why didn’t I try?” should not be among your last thoughts.

If your life was a videogame, how much more likely would you be to say “Fuck it. I have my dreams and I’m going for them!” How long would it be before you “burn your social security card” and play the game like you mean it?

Because whether or not you think of it this way, you’re playing the game. You don’t put down the controller until you die. The only decision you have to make is how you play. Do you play realizing we all have roughly the same amount of time (usually) on this Earth? Or do you play thinking that there’s always tomorrow to experience the levels you can’t today?

If you put things off too long, soon your health, energy, and willpower bars will be too low to play the levels you keep putting off.

Game Over

I’ll admit, I still feel like I’m in life’s holding pattern, waiting for the next level. And I know it’s on me to get there. I thought of this article on a long commute home from a life I want to change. Hence why it’s in my “Thoughts” category. Updates to follow!

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts. How would you “play” life differently if it was a videogame? Albeit, one where resources, food, hunger, sleep, and the laws of physics still matter.

What would you do differently? What would stay the same?

Thanks for reading.