The Game of Life

These past 10 days have been hectic, but I’m starting to feel centered again. It’s been a week of expression, new relationships and settling  in.

This week Michael Casanova and I were talking about life, about where we came from and about where we want to go. Mike and I are both extremely driven, I plan to retire by the time I’m 25 and Michael has big dreams of travelling to the States to explore the world. Michael and I were talking about how hard growth is.

Then we started talking about skill sets, and video games.

“Life is like a video game,” one of us said to the other. “But some people don’t choose to play.” If you think about it, in this life you can develop any skill set that you want. Skill set development starts with you becoming interested, you invest in the skill set, you work on the process of developing the skill set, you get value out of the skill set until it becomes a passion.

INTEREST >> INVEST >> PROCESS >> VALUE >> PASSION

Think about school, for example. You’re interested in taking Engineering, so you invest in the skill set. You put your tuition fees down, and once you’re invested you work on the process of getting the work done for Engineering. After years of dedicating yourself to the process, you start to get the value out of Engineering, getting good grades until eventually you get your degree. Over the course of the process, if you developed a love for your work, Engineering becomes a job and a passion.

Let’s take that same concept and apply it to playing guitar. You’re interested in playing guitar, so you invest in the skill set. You buy your first guitar, and you purchase guitar lessons. After years of process you start to get the value out of guitar, writing your own guitar songs and eventually joining a band, playing in front of people. Over the course of your skill set process, if you developed a love for guitar, it becomes your passion and you make it to the big show.

The missing piece of the puzzle that 95% of people mess up on is the process. The process is what makes or breaks your success with any skill set. It’s easy to be interested in a skill set, it’s easy to invest in a skill set. Setting aside the hours it takes to develop a skill set is a lot more difficult than the interest it takes to develop it. This life is a game, but this life is also a movie. The people who play the game of life are dedicated to the process, the people who watch the movie of life spectate other people’s process.

A sports fan is a spectator of someone else’s process, someone who watches TV regularly is a spectator of the Actor’s process, someone who finds themselves glued to Video Games is a spectator of the game character’s process. Video Games are fun though, because you get to control the game character’s process.

Ahh, this is with real life too. Like in a video game, you can develop any skill set that you want to. Wood working, going hunting, playing guitar, playing a sport, any skill set that you want to develop, you can. The way that we’ve been raised though, is to believe that school is the only skill set that you can develop. I know this has been brought up before, so I’ll clarify and say that school is not a bad option, if the skill set that you want to develop requires school. However, any skill set can be developed, instead of spectated.

A lot of people haven’t experienced enough things to find a skill set that they are interested enough in, to invest in. That’s okay, because the best part about Social Dynamics, is that you might meet someone along the way that can introduce you to a skill set that you want to develop.

You want to become a break dancer? If you’re interested, you must invest in the skill set. Without the investment, you won’t take it seriously. Then once you’re invested, you must dedicate yourself to the process of developing that skill set; refusing to allow failure to be an option. Stick to the process long enough and you’ll become a great dancer. Get enough value from your skill set of dance, and you’ll fall in love with it, performing in front of millions, showcasing the ultimate expression of your hard work.

How will you ever become that person you’ve always wanted to be without investing in your skill set? Every day you’re alive, you’re developing a skill set. Every time you sit down and watch the TV, you’re developing the skill set of watching TV; by investing your time and energy into the television and working on the process of sitting on the couch.

Every time you play video games, you’re developing the skill set of playing video games; by investing your time and energy into the video game and working on the process of becoming better at that game.

Every time you go out to drink and socialize, you’re developing the skill set of drunk socializing, investing your time and money into a consumable asset, working on the process of releasing your sober thoughts with the ability to blame it on the alcohol.

Or, you can choose to develop the skill set of playing the game of life. Choose to play the game, instead of watching the movie. Choose to develop the skill set of Social Dynamics, giving value freely and understanding how to be assertive in meeting the people that will help you develop any skill set you desire. Life is a game, and life is a movie.

Are you playing the game, or are you watching the movie?