How to lvl up

How to level up in real life.

It's a lovely friday afternoon and you're sitting on the sofa, hanging out with your good friend Mario. He's not doing too well at the moment and you're doing the best you can to help him sort himself out...frustrating as he can be sometimes.

Sometimes I feel as though if my life were a video game, I'd be more successful...

For starters, I wouldn't have to deal with that inevitable pang of panic I feel when somebody asks me the question: 'so what do you want to do with your life?'...

...In video games, your objectives are clear. It’s a series of moving from one checkpoint to the next. You know that there is a way to overcome the challenges you face, although it may not always be obvious at the start. Finally, if you fail in a videogame, it’s a matter of going back to your last save point and trying again.

So why is it so much harder in real life?

Well the fact is that it doesn't have to be. I know that if I applied the same dedication, mental sweat and passion in my own life that I did when facing Rainbow Road, I'd probably be much more successful and have about half as many unfinished tasks.

So that's what this blog series is all about. How can we progress to playing our lives on expert mode?

Let's start at the beginning. We need our objective. Another term for this might be: goal setting.

It's strange how differently we consider the tasks we face in a video game and in our own lives. In games, it's exciting-- the drive to reach the next level keeps us going. In real life, I often find my goal setting is swiftly followed by reluctance and a heavy dose of procrastination.

The thing is, if we actually want to make a positive change in our lives, we need to start somewhere. We can start with setting ourselves that goal and writing it down.

We need to break our goal down like it would be in a game. You don't go from lvl 1 to 100 straight away-- there is going to be a series of steps involved along the way. Furthermore, for this goal of ours to be achieved, we need to remain passionate about it, the same was we stay interested in the games we play.

We need to want to reach the next level.

So what are you waiting for?

Up next: Achievement Unlocked: the steps to reaching your goal

Want to share your goal with us?

Tweet us @WeAreYesFutures and use the hashtag #JustSayYes