For the primary time in 10+ years, I rewatched my 2012 TEDx discuss:
“Nerd Fitness and Resetting the Game of Life.”
My first thought: “Whoa, Steve. These are some EPIC sideburns.”
My subsequent thought: “Daring selection with the striped shirt, denims, and flip flops!”
Then I gave myself some grace.
I’m deeply uncomfortable with the highlight. I hate public talking. It makes me wish to vomit each single time. I additionally don’t like being on digicam.
And but, I’ve concepts that I believe may also help individuals.
So I write and share my concepts. And generally, I power myself to get on stage. For this discuss, I needed to take two buses via the jungles of Ecuador (the place I used to be residing on the time), after which take two flights to get to Atlanta.
I stayed at my buddy Kappy’s home, and the evening earlier than the discuss, I made a decision to remain up and rewrite the entire rattling factor. That morning, I practiced my discuss to his two canines, after which hurried over to Emory and simply went full YOLO and shouted my discuss into the universe.
12 years later, rewatching this discuss, I’ve ideas.
If you wish to make a journey down reminiscence lane, you may watch the talk on YouTube, which surprisingly has over 100,000 views.
My Largest Shock Rewatching…
It wasn’t as embarrassing as I believed!
Child Steve really had some respectable concepts and was an okay storyteller! Particularly when you think about I had rewritten the complete discuss 12 hours prior and was on zero hours of sleep. Oh, to be younger and naive once more.
That is the slide that cracked me up essentially the most, and I believe the one I wish to spend essentially the most period of time on:
All through most of my early 20s, I spent an unhealthy period of time enjoying video video games. On the time, I had satisfied myself that the video video games had been the issue. They’d grow to be too addicting, too pleasant, they usually had been the rationale I wasn’t making a lot progress in my actual life.
The truth is one stage deeper. It wasn’t simply the video video games. It was that I didn’t have a lot life to look ahead to. I didn’t like my job (promoting development tools), I didn’t have objectives or issues in my private life to look ahead to. So I escaped into video video games.
Older and wiser and with shorter sideburns, I’ve a greater understanding of human habits and my very own private struggles with procrastination and escape.
As specified by my buddy Nir Eyal’s ebook Indistractable, if we don’t tackle the basis reason behind distraction or escape, our brains will get excellent at discovering one more factor to get hooked on!
In different phrases, for those who can go one stage deeper as to WHY you’re procrastinating or avoiding actuality (probably with the help of therapy) it could provide help to get out of the rut.
As soon as I discovered one thing to look ahead to (for me it was turning life into an journey online game like Zelda and EverQuest), abruptly video video games grew to become a far much less interesting use of my restricted free time.
Today, I nonetheless play video video games often (I simply completed Fallout 4), however I now know extra.
When video video games take over an excessive amount of of my life, it’s in all probability as a result of I’m avoiding confronting the truth of an issue in life.
Possibly I’m scared to get again to work on my secret-book-shaped venture, as a result of I fear it’s not adequate. Or possibly I’m avoiding an uncomfortable dialog or addressing an actual drawback in my life.
So, the answer isn’t unplugging the Ps. It’s addressing the issue I’m really working exhausting to keep away from.
It’s higher to know why I’m procrastinating as an alternative of simply blaming it on video video games.
How’s My Epic Quest Going?
In my discuss, I discuss my Bucket Listing, which I renamed my Epic Quest of Superior. For a very good 8 years, this was an enormous focus of mine.
Actually incomes expertise factors for conducting quests in actual life.
I did this after exercising around the world and residing 14 months of adventure travel.
I even received a ebook revealed about turning life right into a sport, Stage Up Your Life, again in 2016. I just lately reacquired the rights to this ebook, and I’m hoping to place out a Model 2 within the coming yr.
(This is the reason you may’t purchase it now, sorry about that!).
12 years later, life is a bit completely different.
When you’ve been studying this text for the previous yr, you may need observed a theme: acceptance and self-compassion.
I’ve modified my perspective on objectives.
I had run myself ragged for over a decade, constructing Nerd Health, giving as a lot as doable, chasing the subsequent aim. Every aim led to the subsequent aim. Every dragon slain required me to go discover one other dragon.
It grew to become an limitless loop of perpetual “extra extra extra.”
And ultimately I spotted that I had gotten fairly distant from what really made me blissful.
These previous few years, I’ve determined to stay a bit in a different way.
As a substitute of massive long run objectives with dramatically organized plans, I’ve narrowed my focus to: “How can I’ve a very good day as we speak?”
I stay as if I will NEVER “get there.”
I nonetheless have objectives, and I nonetheless have issues I hope to perform in life.
I’m simply enjoying a special sport than I used to be at 28. I believe this “life is a sport” philosophy served me nicely on the time, and I believe now I’ve added a couple of further doses of actuality to how this performs out.
For any individual caught in a rut, and escaping an excessive amount of into digital worlds, I believe serious about life like a online game generally is a fairly enjoyable option to try to get away of that rut.
It may not work for everyone, however I believe having issues to look ahead to, and objectives to work on, after which discovering methods to make tiny bits of progress may also help.
I cowl this in an article known as “A Nerd’s Guide to Success and Happiness” which nonetheless holds up!
Somewhat little bit of nuance and perspective can go a great distance when gamifying life!
Wading into the Remark Part…
I made the perilous option to wade into the cesspool of the web:
The remark part on my video.
I used to be shocked to see that 95% of the feedback had been tremendous optimistic!
There was one remark although, that supplied me a novel alternative to do one thing I’ve all the time needed to do.
Show any individual unsuitable on the web.
In my discuss, I discussed that I hoped to sooner or later deadlift 400+ kilos. I grew up scrawny and weak, and I later discovered that I’ve spondylolisthesis, which suggests two of my vertebrae don’t line up.
For the previous 15 years, deadlifting has been my favourite train. It’s the motion that has made me really feel essentially the most sturdy and empowered.
I went and located a video of myself from 2018, the place after 6+ years of devoted, gradual development and deal with getting stronger, I deadlifted 420 kilos at a body weight of 172 lbs. No belt, straps, and double overhand grip too!
And sure. 12 years later, I HAD to answer and let the man know I did it.
Not gonna lie, it felt good proving a random web commenter unsuitable! Hahahaha
Petty and pointless? Yep!
Satisfying? Very.
Two Buttons: Energy and Reset
I completed my discuss with one thing that was much more highly effective than I had anticipated.
The unique Nintendo Leisure System has two buttons: POWER and RESET.
Within the sport of life, we get to hit the ability button as soon as. It activates after we’re born, and it turns off after we die.
However we even have a chance to hit the RESET Button. If there’s a thought or identification you could have that’s not serving you, or some facet of life that simply isn’t working…it’s okay to hit the reset button.
It’s okay to strive once more, even for those who failed the final time.
Keep in mind, our knowledge carries over, and we by no means begin again at sq. one.
Sport on, my fellow nerd!
-Steve
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