Today I went for a run.  I was giving it my all, cruising down the Hudson boardwalk while enjoying the sunset. Just another day in a locked down Manhattan amidst a global pandemic.

And then it hit me. I was sprinting. Zigzagging through pedestrians, their stupid little dogs, calculating my route in real time like the fucking Terminator. It wasn't exercise. It wasn't exhausting. It was fun. Like I just leveled up in the bipedal motion skill tree. After that I went home and put some points into knowledge by starting a new book I've been meaning to read. It's good to distribute your points evenly.

You should treat your life like an RPG. God rolled you some base stats that you had no control over. But you can level up and grind out those new abilities to become a better, more bad ass human being. When you push yourself in challenging skills, the reward of seeing yourself improve is deeply satisfying. And it creates a positive feedback loop.

So why not, you ask, just play video games? Three reasons:

  1. The skills are nontransferable to real life (unless you work in the industry), and
  2. They are a huge time suck with minimal benefit.
  3. You're paying money to simulate the experience of being successful.

Now, I'm not going to get into a raging debate over the internet about whether video games are good or bad. Like anything, it all depends on how it affects the rest of your life. Play them for an hour to unwind? Cool. Play them late into the night when you should be getting shit done? Then we have a problem. You are using video games as an escape, similar to any addict.

And why do we get addicted to video games? Because they stimulate the same dopaminergic system we've evolved to reward us for getting rewards in real life.  Only problem is the rewards our brain thinks we're getting don't exist. They are a fantasy. When that game is over we are left with nothing tangible. Nothing of true value.

Think about it. You're basically paying money to emulate being a man on easy mode. Progress is straightforward and linear. Yeah there are some challenges, but they are minuscule in comparison to the challenges and experiences of facing life.

So, rather than escape into a fantasy world that can provide some mild entertainment and a false sense of accomplishment, embrace the struggle of being a man on this earth with the same way you would embrace a classic role playing game: A sense of curiosity and adventure. Look at different class builds (i.e. professions, people you aspire to, great historical thinkers). Spec out your character and grind it out. Yeah it's slower, but the rewards are real and lasting. And once you've found that perfect build, you don't have to worry about the devs updating with a patch that FUCKS THE SHIT OUT OF MY UNTOUCHABLE SORCERESS DAMN YOU TO HELL DIABLO 2 MODS -

Sorry, just had a weird acid flashback or something.

Anyway, one final point about this RPG analogy: Don't take any of this life stuff too seriously. In the end, it's just a game. You're gunna meet the simplistic NPCs, the trolls that fuck with you, and the bosses from hell you just can't seem to beat. But that's all part of the journey.

Put down the controller and get some real life XP. And have some fun along the way.