As I have mentioned in a few other posts, I wanted to start a discussion about why I had to give up video games – a hobby that I know too well.
Arcades were a huge part of my life for years, and I had to make a decision at one point to either embrace the hold it had on me and sacrifice other areas of my life or, take a step back and enhance the skills I’d already developed in the arcades to better myself within the real world.
How did I give up video games?
Now, this was a tough decision to make, I had like-minded gamer friends and it was a huge part of my identity, but something had to give as I wasn’t actually moving forward in life as a grown adult.
I took the creativity and problem-solving skills that I had developed and used them to enhance other areas of my life.
And the reward circuit in my brain that was used to seeking validation from leveling up, well I took that and used it to dedicate myself to completing tasks and winning a job.
It wasn’t all a bed of roses, however…
It wasn’t all a positive learning curve, however. When I was playing games, I was unhealthily overweight and I spent most of my time in my room alone.
As I wasn’t happy I thought being the best at a game would help and I would feel validated. But then, when I started going through the levels and it stopped being fun, I decided to put down the controller.
This isn’t to say that it was a complete waste of time as I have said. I used that drive and motivation to succeed (albeit at Plants vs Zombies) to instead develop as a business owner; learning every aspect of business development and also making positive changes in my social life.
This is easier said than done, but if you break it down there are three simple steps that you can take to help you out of that gaming spiral you might find yourself in too:
Decide what you want.
As once you know this, then you can create a path for yourself to get there.
How can you use your skills?
It might not be very obvious, but all games contain aspects that you can transfer into your real life. Do you love The Sims? You must have an outstanding desire to care for others. Or do you even love Fortnite? You must have great hand-eye coordination.
Now go and do it
You know what you want, you know how you can get there, so what are you waiting for? It might just be your time to give up video games.
Now you know more about me and my experiences, I want to take you through how video games have specifically helped me within the real world.
