I Turned My Life Into A Game For 50 Days. Here Are 4 Powerful Take Aways.

A couple of years ago my friend Mark and I committed for 50 days to be living the life of our ideal self in all aspects.

We had a vision, created an architecture, implemented tiny habits and came up with game rules and consequences. And what came next transformed both of our lives in ways we could not have imagined.

Here are the 4 take aways.

Change the default state

By playing the game, I realised that we are habitual creatures. We run on the programs of our subconscious mind, which includes beliefs, habits, thoughts and POV’s.

These are programs that we’ve mostly adopted from society and the people around us. Some serve us, but most do not. Every moment that we are NOT aware and consciously making choices, our mind falls back on the programs of our subconscious.

However, we can change our subconscious default state.

This starts with building-in new tiny habits that are in alignment with who we want to be; which also breaks the spell of time and energy consuming behaviours that hold us back.

Be your own best teammate

Whether we play a game with 1 person or 1000, the success of the ‘team’, is the sum of every individual.

On days that I wasn’t feeling it, I still wanted to show up for my teammate Mark. He deserved it.

It made me realise that success is not about achieving or performing. It is about whether our heart is in it. Success does not come from others, it comes from who we are BEING and how we show up in every moment.

Focusing on being the teammate we would like to have, is a game changer.

Be all in for the duration of the game

I knew the game would end in 50 days, what made it easier to be all in.

We kept track of our daily commitments, we held ourselves accountable with ‘Game Lives’ and we gave ourselves ‘Day OFF Wildcards’. So that even if we missed a habit or needed a day off, we could do so without guilt.

Playfulness and accountability were the keys to stay focused and committed. We came up with fun or 'out-of-our-comfort-zone' consequences if we lost all our Game Lives and Wildcards. This served as extra motivation to be all in until the end.

No more overthinking or indecisiveness

I noticed while playing the game, that I didn't have my usual indecisive thoughts “Shall I do this or that?”, “Maybe I will find time today”.

Playing the game is about prioritisation. By committing to the daily architecture, decisions are already made. There is no room for negotiation. This radically eliminates procrastination and even wishful thinking.

This alone was a major breakthrough for me, and probably for most people.