Maturing through life is a lot like moving from one set of games to another higher set of games
A lot of life is a set of games:
We start off as a child playing with toys. Board games, computer games - closed and protected games. We seek to optimise our exam results to get into university and our learning to become better good people - exams, university admissions, language learning. Dating games and sports. Status games, social media, Building a business and then graduating to investments.
Through each game we learn lessons and get rewards and benefits, it makes you better.
Some games are better than others the stakes are higher and the impact is bigger.
The quality of a game can be measured by its outcome, impact, and leverage.
A more difficult game makes you better, which can be demonstrated by if you move back down you are better at lower value games, and transferred to other bigger games.
The knowledge, in your bones, that you can master something difficult. You carry that into whatever you play next
Some games are traps - chasing novelty or dopamine, and some people get stuck.
A life spent only in low-leverage low-impact games is a smaller life.
Its better to play at higher games and we have a choice at which level we play - don’t get stuck in the wrong ones too long, realise what game you are playing, be open to moving up, learn about the other games, but beyond it all, whichever game you play, decide it consciously, intentionally, and courageously.
We choose our own games and that might be the ultimate game of all.