I always review my life from time to time. In recent years, I’ve started making a record of my life in a notebook.
I count how many drawings I make, how many words I write, how many interviews I conduct each year, and so on, which allows me to visualize how I spend my time.
After adding data records, I discovered that some of my past experiences and, at times, my feelings did not match the facts.
In my memory, the first year I started drawing was not happy. Every day, I needed to work hard to overcome procrastination and maintain the habit of drawing. I tried various methods, but in the end, I completed very few works. Until last weekend, when I opened that year’s folder on my hard drive and actually counted the pieces I had finished, I realized that my output was much higher than I had felt.
Today, I would say I am very proud of my past self. I wish I had been more objective about my efforts and achievements back then and less insecure.
I also realized that if I had used some small techniques at the time, I could have enjoyed the growth process more.
I summarize these techniques as gamifying your process:
Treat your process as a game
Design a point system for your game
Define the level-ups for yourself
Photo by Kanhaiya Sharma on Unsplash
Treat Your Process As A Game
I have a game that I have completed over 8 thousands of levels. Occasionally, when I feel a bit down, I reinstall it and play for a couple of hours.
Here’s why we like games:
The game has points, and every action you take is reflected in the numbers, allowing you to see the effort you’ve put in.
The game has rewards, and from time to time, you reach a point that gives you an upgrade, making you feel like you’re constantly progressing.
The game has goals, constantly reminding you of the steps you’ve reached. It also varies in difficulty, ensuring that every type of player can have a positive experience.
The game has no end; its purpose is to make you addicted and keep playing indefinitely.
We can turn growth into an endless game, immersing ourselves in the real world challenges.
For me, I want to become a successful artist, but I don’t know when I’ll reach a milestone or how far I can go in the end. So I decided to see it as an infinite game, design a reward system for it, and enjoy every bit of my progress.
Design A Point System For Your Game
Our only opponent is ourselves.
Set up a point system for your goal; humans naturally have an inclination to chase more points.
We should approach our lives with a project management mindset. Each year, there are a few major projects in our lives, and we set some low-threshold point goals for these projects.
Here’s how I do it.
For new projects with unknown difficulty, choose some easier small tasks to count. Completing a larger number looks more fulfilling.
For example, when I first started writing this newsletter, I found that setting a task to write a certain number of articles per quarter was too stressful. So, I changed the task to making 90 small notes per quarter. During the note-taking process, I found that as long as I could write five or six notes, I could naturally complete an article.
For projects with predictable growth rates, my goal setting is realistic, aiming to improve myself in only a few dimensions each year.
For example, in terms of drawing, this year I only aim to improve the quality and make a better portfolio; maintaining the same efficiency as before is sufficient. The scoring task I set for myself is to complete the same number of works as the previous two years, but with an increase in the number of publishable works.
For slow-progress projects that I want to pursue long-term, I also record the data.
For example, for social media growth, I just track the main metrics weekly. This makes data fluctuations more visible, and even small progress becomes noticeable.
For other important aspects of life, such as health and finances, you can also set data goals for yourself.
Turning life into a series of numbers allows you to view your life and progress more objectively. We are always motivated by positive feedback so don’t miss them.
No matter what, every week, every month, you will see some numbers grow relatively quickly, which motivates you to work harder on the corresponding project.
As long as you keep recording data for a month, you can establish this feedback system and form new habits.
Keeping a record of small tasks will make you disciplined, discipline will become a habit, and habit will turn into inertia.
This is what the point system is for.
Define The Level-ups For Yourself
People get addicted to games because of the constant level-ups that motivate them to keep playing.
You are the master of your own game and can define what kind of progress counts as a level-up for you.
You can define drawing 10 pictures as 1 level, and leveling up 10 times in a year.
The psychological mechanism of humans is to paint a rosy picture for themselves and leverage all feedback.
When only 10 people follow you, you imagine thousands. Fantasies like this give you the motivation to continue.
Be a satisfier before being a maximizer.
Upgrade your game step by step.
When we were children, the world around us was naturally filled with things we could learn: we learned languages, social skills, and all general knowledge. We often felt our own growth, which filled us with hope and happiness.
As adults, this positive feedback diminishes, and many people remain stuck, not knowing what to do. They try to learn new skills but are constantly defeated by setbacks.
Creating small positive feedback for yourself can make each day more fulfilling.
You can define your ultimate mission, define your goals, define your progress.
Life is your game.
This is Edition №8 of the LazyCreator weekly newsletter.
I’m an illustrator and content creator. I share my creative journey in art and content creation through this newsletter.
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