(2017-11-14) Manson Life Is A Video Game Here Are The Cheat Codes

Mark Manson: Life Is a Video Game — Here Are the Cheat Codes. There are five levels in life:

• Level 1 — Find food; find a bed to sleep in at night
• Level 2 — Know you’re not going to die
• Level 3 — Find your people
• Level 4 — Do something that’s important and valuable to both yourself and others
• Level 5 — Create a legacy

Life’s game design is actually surprisingly simple. It is guided by a few basic principles (GameRule)

1. Life is designed to continually throw difficult and unexpected problems at you.

2. Players may respond to problems with either Solutions or Distractions.

3. The more each Solution or Distraction is used, the easier and more automatic it will be in the future

it becomes a Habit.

4. Solutions move us towards the next Level, Distractions keep us on the same Level.

5. The formula for winning at the game of Life is therefore actually incredibly simple:

• a) correctly identify your Solutions and Distractions
• b) eliminate the Distractions

Just because you Level Up doesn’t mean problems stop at previous levels.

Below are the five cheat codes

CHEAT #1: I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS

CHEAT #2: WRITE THIS SHIT DOWN

Separating Solutions from Distractions in your life is surprisingly difficult and complicated. This is because we have a tendency to lie to ourselves about our Distractions

As such, we all need to develop an ability to observe our own thoughts. Psychologists sometimes call this “metacognition.”

One common way to do this is to write down your thoughts regularly. (Daily Writing)

CHEAT #3: STOP FUCKING COMPLAINING

Complaining takes a problem and then prolongs it.

CHEAT #4: STOP FANTASIZING

CHEAT #5: SHARE YOUR SHAME

The more Distractions we create for ourselves as children, and/or the more Distractions our parents teach us themselves, the more they will form into Habits that will continue into adulthood. Once adults, we will forget that our Distractions were merely reactions to problems, and we will come to believe that there is something inherently flawed or wrong about us and we must hide it from other people at all costs.