Gaming and the Game Objective Based Mindset

Parents and educators have been dreading this one for years.

Reality is Broken:
http://www.amazon.com/Reality-Broken-Games-Better-Change/dp/1594202850/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297280140&sr=8-1

Fascinated by the idea behind this book. Ive always seen merit in what I think of as the "game" mindset, or objective based thinking (you could just as easily see this as a `strategic` or `military` approach to situations as well.) The idea runs like this: most games drop you into a world of clearly defined rules and objectives, and your task is to overcome, meet, destroy, realize them, etc. The mental engagement that this takes can be applied easily to real-life situations, assuming you are creative and resourceful enough to re-articulate them as such.

For example, eight months ago, I decided I was bored with America, but wasn't sure exactly what to do about it. I distinctly remember that I was in the middle of (somewhat obsessively) deconstructing one of the games in the Fallout series, and had an odd revelation during a not-so-odd moment.

I'll spare you the details but basically I was caught up in a particular situation in the game: I wasn't sure where I needed to go. Now, the overall objective of this game is beyond the 10,000 character limit of this writing space, but essentially the main character is a member of a surviving bomb shelter group, and must venture out into the world to find some replacement parts to restore the life-systems of his community vault, Etc. So basically my community was going to all die unless I found these parts. So the clock was ticking and I hit one of those plateaus where I had no idea what to do so I decided to walk around the main town and just--for lack of a better idea--talk to people. Pretty radical stuff. After a few conversations about gecko beer and nuclear waste, I received an odd--seemingly unrelated side quest, during which I accidentally stumbled upon a lead to a new town, and found some clues that renewed my journey...

Ok, there was a point in there somewhere I was trying to make...

Got it. So while I was thinking about the character's quest, I made a strange parallel to my own life. After my year of post-graduate volunteer service was finished, what was I going to do with myself? Inspired by the game design, I started talking to people about my ideas.  Then I made a chart, just like one of the little quests the game might have given you, with bullet points and concrete objectives and all that stuff, outlining some basic ideas and themes that were important to me: make some money, get a respectable, challenging and engaging job, have some crazy adventure, etc.

I turned them into the following list, which I literally kept it in my pocket and checked off over the past year.


1. Escape America.
2. Get certified to teach English as a second language.
3. Use that degree to secure a full time ESL teaching position.
4. Make enough money to travel around, learn the language, see crazy things, pay off student loans, meet crazy people, etc.

All of which I did. Except the part about paying back student loans. Because with the plane tickets I pretty much broke even (maybe) for the whole trip. And all things considered that's so not bad considering everything I saw.

Or shot. Don't see too many riverside shooting galleries in America anymore...

This objective-based, strategic thinking is something I have directly inherited from my love of games when I was younger--it is only in the last four years or so that I have been bold enough to apply it to my daily life. To the pursuit of jobs, the strengthening of relationships, and even combating the ups and downs of our emotional\spiritual existence. Creating a list and pursuing an objective--even if the objective is not the `be all and end all` of your life, is an excellent way to stir things up, and get yourself moving toward something else. That might in turn lead to something else. That might just get you frustrated and send you in yet another direction. Which might get you to Enlightenment. Hell, it happened to the Buddha.

I did the same thing when I returned to America. Albeit, a little less adventurous:

1) Pay off my student loans, which led to...
2) Get a job, which led to...
3) Systematic and Deliberate Search and Connect to secure a job, which led to...
4) Conversations with Shop owners and Resume Distribution, which led to...

The completion of Objective 2, and offered money to help complete Objective 1. As well as establish Objective 5) Go back to school for Emergency Medical Training Certification. It all might sound foolish, but when framed this way, the whole process helped me set up, search, and move toward something I have always wanted. Which is exactly what I need right now as stability in this post-college greyness I find myself in.

It can be as specific or as general as you like. Though obviously the specific is preferable, because it offers a tangible measurement of your progress.

1. Spend time with Baby Sis vs. Climb Mt. Washington with Baby Sis.
2. Go back to school vs. Go back to school for EMT Certification.

There are no limits, kid.