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 need to vomit each single time. I additionally don’t like being on digicam.
And but, I’ve concepts that I believe might 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 by 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 good friend Kappy’s home, and the night time 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 Greatest Shock Rewatching…
It wasn’t as embarrassing as I assumed!
Child Steve truly had some respectable concepts and was an okay storyteller! Particularly when you think about I had rewritten all the 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 need 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 have been the issue. They’d grow to be too addicting, too pleasant, they usually have been the explanation 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 stay up for. I didn’t like my job (promoting building tools), I didn’t have targets or issues in my private life to stay up for. 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 good friend Nir Eyal’s e book Indistractable, if we don’t handle the basis reason for distraction or escape, our brains will get excellent at discovering one more factor to get hooked on!
In different phrases, if you happen to can go one stage deeper as to WHY you’re procrastinating or avoiding actuality (presumably with the help of therapy) it could actually assist you to get out of the rut.
As soon as I discovered one thing to stay up for (for me it was turning life into an journey online game like Zelda and EverQuest), abruptly video video games turned a far much less interesting use of my restricted free time.
As of late, 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 fact of an issue in life.
Perhaps I’m scared to get again to work on my secret-book-shaped challenge, 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 truly working onerous 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 speak about my Bucket Listing, which I renamed my Epic Quest of Superior. For a superb 8 years, this was a giant focus of mine.
Actually incomes expertise factors for carrying out quests in actual life.
I did this after exercising around the world and residing 14 months of adventure travel.
I even received a e book printed about turning life right into a recreation, Degree Up Your Life, again in 2016. I just lately reacquired the rights to this e book, and I’m hoping to place out a Model 2 within the coming 12 months.
(Because of this you may’t purchase it now, sorry about that!).
12 years later, life is a bit completely different.
Should you’ve been studying this article for the previous 12 months, you may need seen a theme: acceptance and self-compassion.
I’ve modified my perspective on targets.
I had run myself ragged for over a decade, constructing Nerd Health, giving as a lot as attainable, chasing the subsequent aim. Every aim led to the subsequent aim. Every dragon slain required me to go discover one other dragon.
It turned an infinite loop of perpetual “extra extra extra.”
And ultimately I spotted that I had gotten fairly far-off from what truly made me glad.
These previous few years, I’ve determined to stay a bit in a different way.
As a substitute of massive long run targets with dramatically organized plans, I’ve narrowed my focus to: “How can I’ve a superb day at present?”
I stay as if I will NEVER “get there.”
I nonetheless have targets, and I nonetheless have issues I hope to perform in life.
I’m simply enjoying a distinct recreation than I used to be at 28. I believe this “life is a recreation” philosophy served me nicely on the time, and I believe now I’ve added a number of additional 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 excited about life like a online game could be a fairly enjoyable strategy to try to escape of that rut.
It won’t work for everyone, however I believe having issues to stay up for, and targets to work on, after which discovering methods to make tiny bits of progress might help.
I cowl this in an article referred to as “A Nerd’s Guide to Success and Happiness” which nonetheless holds up!
A little bit 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 have been tremendous constructive!
There was one remark although, that offered me a singular alternative to do one thing I’ve at all times needed to do.
Show any individual incorrect on the web.
In my discuss, I discussed that I hoped to in the future deadlift 400+ kilos. I grew up scrawny and weak, and I later realized that I’ve spondylolisthesis, which implies 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 incorrect! 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 recreation 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 possibility to hit the RESET Button. If there’s a thought or id you may have that’s not serving you, or some side of life that simply isn’t working…it’s okay to hit the reset button.
It’s okay to strive once more, even if you happen to 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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