Video game
designers face a very strange problem that you may not have expected: how to
ensure that the player does not deprive himself of the fun in the game. Wait,
that is a thing? I asked myself when I first read that. But then I reflected on
my own playing habits when I was a kid. I saw that I had in fact robbed myself
the fun in playing by farming countless hours experience points, skipping the
cutscenes and using cheats. I did not experience the fun that the game creators
intended me to have. That‘s what Sid Meier means when he speaks of
"protecting the player from himself."
"You
are your biggest enemy." I bet you have encountered this quote at least
one time on the internet. But what does it mean?
In my eyes
the quote wants us to treat ourselves as enemy’s, thus mistrusting, fighting
ourselves and protecting us from ourselves. You may know that life isn’t a
video game. There are no designer’s no ensure that we have fun or success. We
are the players and we must ensure ourselves that we have the fun that is out
there.
Imagine
John. Everyone lives close of a John. John has great aspirations. He wants to
live as a writer, live on the beach of Mexico and earn effortless money. Yet he
does nothing to achieve his goals. Between mindless watching Netflix and eating
Cheetos he finds the time to feel miserably about his life.
Do you
remember all the times when you were at work and had all this formidable
business ideas, that you would put into action when you would have to time to
escape 9-5 hell? Now, how is your business going? The chances are very likely
that you never even tackled the work needed to be done, or when you did, that
you lost "motivation" after the first couple of hours. Instead you
switched back to your old routine of excuses and of hedonism, watching Netflix
while eating Cheetos.
In fact, it
is very difficult for us humans to live in comfort. Deep rooted in our brains
lies our own laziness, once in primal times useful to ensure that we rest after
a hunt, nowadays that rest before a hunt that will never happen. When faced
with free time, I experienced a mix between laziness and procrastination. On
one hand I want to know how this series will end, on the other hand I know that
for the important things that I want to do, there is tomorrow. The result of
this mindset is common knowledge. But what can we do about it? How can we
protect ourselves from our own incompetence?
Let’s see
how the video game designers handle the problem: they build in mechanism that
force the user to play the game as it was intended to be played. For example,
if a developer wants the player to take more risks, he rewards him by giving
him more experience points when he kills a monster at close range. What is
helpful in this case is not the reward in my opinion. In my own experience,
promising myself a reward after I complete work just makes me reward myself a
bit earlier. That is why I do not encourage you to reward yourself for good behavior,
but to punish yourself for bad behavior. The fear of punishment will let you to
accomplish great things. Yet the punishment must not lie in your own hand. Let
other’s punish you for your own behavior. In his book "Drop Dead
Healthy", writer AJ Jacobs gave his wife 1000 dollars that she would
donate to the KKK if he didn’t accomplish his health goals. In a similar
way you should organize your other
projects, that require some sort of willpower. For those of you who want to
quit porn there is https://www.covenanteyes.com/ a site
where at the end of the month your entire browser chronic will be send to a
person that you know. I know that these measures seem very hard, and in fact you
may think right now "I am not like these losers, I can trust myself that I
will work at my projects." But guess what, that is what your biggest enemy
would say to deceive you. Take harsh measures to accomplish great things in the
future. The fear of losing money or in the porn case of looking like a fool in
front of a person that you care is bigger than the hope of any reward that may
wait for you at the end of the tunnel.
Other
protective measures against yourself are software like coldturkey or
coldturkeywriter. Coldturkey blocks distraction websites from your computer and
it is (nearly) impossible to access them during the time that you blocked for.
Coldturkeywriter is another useful piece of software from the same developer.
It blocks your entire computer and gives you only a writing interface. After a
certain amount of words or period you can access your computer and continue
with watching Netflix. In fact, I am using coldturkeywriter right now to write
this post. I do not trust myself enough to simply write in Microsoft world.
A universal
fear of human beings is to lose status. Being degraded is a very bad feeling.
Protecting yourself means at the same time laying traps for you to trip in,
when you engage in useless behavior. Jordan Peterson describes in his book
"12 rules: An antidote to chaos" the experience that many doctors
have had with kidney transplants, that shortly after being told to take the
medicaments at all cost, simply stop after several days. His solution is
genius: Imagine that you were responsible to give the pills to your dog. Would
you stop giving him his pills after a several days? Hopefully not, because you
feel responsible for him. Your solution is to “treat yourself like a person you
are responsible caring for.” I don’t want to give away his ideas, but I
recommend to check out his book and read at least the second chapter.
The
power of habits
When was
the last time that you had set yourself ambitious objectives and were
disappointed with the poor result? Your goals have been turned upside down by
forces too strong for you, which you could have calculated in advance. Imagine
that you want to work out regularly in the gym. I experienced that the
ambitious training regimens of professional bodybuilders are in fact not
suitable to be the starting ground of a gym beginner. Instead focus on making a
habit. Habits can protect your future self from today. So, start by going once
a week to the gym. It may not sound like much, but this was exactly how I
started. Engage an experienced gym goer or a personal trainer to hold you
accountable. I went to every training session, because I didn’t want to
disappoint my trainer. After some weeks I felt my chest going bigger, my
shoulders becoming more square and my legs to outgrow my pants. After all,
training once a week is better than sitting all week long on the couch. Once
you formed the habit, don’t forget to add a day to accelerate your development.
Repeat this until you have reached a reasonable training time for every week
and you have successful given your future self the body that he always desired.
Be
grateful
The voice
in your head makes you want a new car, new smartphone, an expensive wedding,
more holidays, more income. Wanting something means in turn that you don’t have
it now. This way thinks lead directly to unhappiness. Instead focus on what you
do possess. When the voice inside of you raises, express your gratitude for the
small things. I love to appreciate a good meal. I eat it slowly in small bites.
Likewise I am grateful for every bit of free time that I have to spend with my
family. This way of thinking will make you a happier person.
Don’t
think
The
ultimate advice that I have for self-protection is stop thinking. It is at the
same time the most difficult advice that I have, because it is impossible to
stop thinking all together. This would eliminate the countless self-analyzation
that we do on an everyday basis that leads to sabotaging our great plans. In my
eyes, a human who could simply stop thinking at any moment that he wants had a
straightforward way to success. If I ever get this power I will let you know,
but what worked for me till today is the resistance-rule. In Steven Press field’s book “The War of Art”
he describes that every great artist has to fight against the resistance that
separates him of creating his masterpieces. This is advice that could also be
applicated to everyday life: the right path to follow is most often the path
that has the most resistance. Following the path of least resistance leads to a
life full of procrastination. Instead every time you encounter a flinch or
excuses before you are about to do something, count to three and start. Don’t
think, start. This is incredibly difficult, but a good way to get things done.
When I am about to start a videogame, even when I know that I must finish this
very important paper, I pause for a second, count to three and start working on
the paper.
I hope that
I provided you with the needed defensive mechanisms to protect yourself from
yourself. I am by no means a master or a guru, I am struggling like you with my
inner voice and my lazy tendencies. My advice are only the ways that I use to
liberate myself from the bonds of my mind and achieving true greatness.
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