Choose Your Own Adventure

The McLetter
November 18, 2023

Life is like a video game.

You're the main character.

Your goal is to beat the game, enjoy the game, and learn a few things along the way.

Throughout the game, there are quests that reward you when you beat them. Sometimes those quests take hours or days. But the feel of success when you complete a hard quest outweighs never attempting it in the first place.

Or does it?

The Starting Lobby

Let's assume you bought the game and you have to log in. Like in life, you are born into it. You have no choice. You have to be in this game, just like you have to be in life.

But you don't have to enjoy the spoils of the game. The game offers you quests and challenges. You don't have to complete them. You could choose to chill in the main lobby for the entire game. That way you avoid losing items, death and the risk of failure.

But where's the fun in that?

The game is fun because of the danger.

The risk of your character's death is exciting.

If you want that feeling of success from completing a hard puzzle, you must fail your way through it. Otherwise, you never do anything.

Your character remains unchanged. You watch as other characters return to the main lobby. Decked out in new armor. Looking to pursue the next mission that's even more fun and exciting.

If you don't exit the lobby and complete your quests, you never level up. You never get to pursue the next level of excitement. Let alone, enjoy the excitement of the next challenge in front of you. Other players won't respect your level. And you will start to question what it is that you are doing wrong.

"Other players are having fun, why can't I have fun?" "What am I'm doing wrong?"

Hero of The Winds

One of my favorite games growing up was The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

The goal of the game was simple:

beat the final boss (Ganon), rescue the princess (Zelda) and save the world (The Great Sea).

To do so, there were dungeons and quests you had to battle through. Dungeons required you to solve a series of puzzles which led to a room where you fought a boss. Quests required you to sail across the ocean to get requested items for NPC's.

The more dungeons and quests you completed, the better your character (Link) got.

It was simple - beat all the dungeons and take on all the quests.

If you did this, you increased your odds of beating the game.

The only problem was:

The boss of each dungeon was super scary and lots of monsters filled the ocean.

These factors alone deserted me on the starting island. I didn't want to leave because I feared that my character might die.

I rationalized that it wasn't so bad.

Then I watched my older brother play.

He braved his way through every dungeon and quest. His character grew stronger. The items he got were cooler. The bosses he fought were bigger.

I realized the game got way more fun the further away you got from the starting island.

I knew if I wanted to get where he was, I had to brave my way through each challenge, one at a time. I had to overcome my fear of sailing across the The Great Sea. I had to overcome my fear of challenging the boss and dying.

It wasn't easy, but it was rewarding. It made the game more fun to play. It also made it more terrifying. In the end, I was proud when I finally beat the game. Moreso, I enjoyed the experience of playing such a well designed game. To this day, it's one of my favorite games of all time.

How does this relate to your life?

In your life, you are the main character. You are Link.

It's your turn to enter dungeons and take on quests.

These obstacles are in your way for a reason. If you want to beat the boss (a problem in the way of your success) you have to overcome your problems. If you want cooler items (i.e., money) you have to solve other people's problems.

If you do these things, your character will get better, the game will be more fun and you might learn a thing or two.

Press Start

So where do you start? Here's a list of things you can do to start treating your life like the video game it is... and start playing to win:

1) Acquire your map

It's a little easier to do in a video game. The game usually gives you a map that tells you where to go.

Your map is your journal.

Write down everything about your circumstance. Map out your game. What are your goals? What are the tasks you need to do to complete your goals? Use this journal to map out what your life looks like right now and where you need to go.

Bonus: What do you want your game not to look like? Where are the areas on your map that you want your character to avoid?

2) Explore the territory

When a video game gives you a map, a large part of it is blurry. You have to explore the map. Seek out the blurry spots.

If you're struggling with this step it's because you don't know what you want.

Research your curiosities. Find players who have what you want and listen to them. Ask them what you have to do to get to where they are. They will give you a list of things that will make your map more clear.

3) Complete Quests

As your map becomes more clear, quests (challenges in your life) will start to pop up. Embrace those challenges. This is the hard part. You know what you have to do, you just have to do it.

In a video game, it can take hours or days to complete a quest. In the real world, it can take days, weeks, months or years.

If you want to be a lawyer, you have to go to law school for 2-3 years. If you want to create content for a living, you need to create content for years.

It's simple… not easy.

4) Fight Mobs. Drink Healing Potions. Set Your Spawn Point.

Fighting Mobs is equal to Working Out.

Drinking Healing Potions is equal to Eating Healthy.

Setting Your Spawn Point is equal to Sleeping.

It's important to have these 3 things in check because it gives your character the best chance of beating a level.

Fighting Mobs gives your character better skills. Exercising does the same thing. If you want to be stronger, lift weights. If you want to be faster, do speed drills. If you want to jump higher, do jumping drills. Name a physical attribute you want to improve and exercise will do that.

Drinking Healing Potions restores your hearts. Dieting does the same thing. Eat lots of protein and a healthy combination of fats and carbs. This will heal your body and mind as challenges extract their toll on your character. Eat your body weight in protein. Fill the rest of your calories in with carbs and fats. This will give you the ability to recover stronger than you were before.

Setting your spawn point allows your character to restore energy. Sleeping does the same thing. If you do not sleep, you will not have the energy required to complete the challenges on the map. 7-8 hours of sleep each night will give your character the energy required to complete the tasks on your map. Also, it will keep you clear and focused.

Hope you enjoyed this edition of The McLetter. Reply to this email with any questions, concerns, proclamations, etc.

As always - Let’s Get it Brother!

The very best,

Matt Mc

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