Thesis – This is about making a game out of life. This game ultimately reinforced desired habits to achieve desired goals. The Game, forces you to write down and measure what’s important, and how to achieve it.
So what is the game of life? Create a point system based on your goals, add them up at the end of the day and say 10 points to Gryffindor!
How the game works: you have a goal, lets say become more physically fit, great write it down, now what’s your process? What is your definition for fitness? In order to obtain said definition, what are metrics you can hit? Is it strength, mobility, increase vo2 max, all the above? Great, now create daily actions, or process goals to achieve said measurable goals. Such as, go to the gym minimum 3 times a week, follow Ed Coan’s strengh building program, do yoga once a week, etc.. A short cut to creating better process goals is looking up individuals in respective fields that you admire and follow their programs and advice.
Repeat this process for different goals. Financial, Family/Friends, Faith, Fitness etc. Financial might be, I want to create a budget and stick to it in order to buy a house, travel, save money, insert your dream. Then, create your yearly, monthly, daily budget, have a daily spending max (Tim Ferris’s Dreamline calculator is perfect). Even if you don’t get the dream house, you have at the very minimum created more conscious spending habits. Really the focus is on the daily action, spread this across multiple facets, end of each month, tally the points up.
Have a physical representation of your game so that you have a cue. For example, set up a monthly jar, and a yearly jar, each point scored is represented by a marble. Mark high water marks on the monthly jar from previous months, and each time you drop a marble in, it’s a satisfying clang. Then compare if better or worse from the month prior, why, or why not? What areas did you excel in? What areas do you need to improve? Implement, take action, and adjust.
The key is to not lose sight of what’s important. It’s incredibly easy, natural even, to count up all your points, pat yourself on the back and tell yourself what a good job you’re doing. But do not forget what you’re avoiding. The essential action item. If you don’t complete what is essential for the day, all other points are null and void. It’s called the high value activity, HVA. And only you know, deep down, what that HVA is. The conversation you’re avoiding, the outreach you’re not doing for the company you want to start etc, you know.
Just like anything this system is not the gospel, don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t score the point, the objective is to create systems for your goals that you can tangibly measure and adjust for when you need to. Just because you got one point less than yesterday doesn’t mean you’re a failure, or just because you got three more points today than yesterday, doesn’t mean you can take your foot of the gas.
Last bit, this point system is not to encourage transactional relationships. By having a point system, it get’s the ball rolling and pushes you outside of your comfort zone. Repeatedly going outside of comfort zone, generally speaking creates a new comfort zone.
Happy goal setting. Good Luck:
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s faith and courage.
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