For the primary time in 10+ years, I rewatched my 2012 TEDx speak:
“Nerd Health and Resetting the Sport of Life.”
My first thought: “Whoa, Steve. These are some EPIC sideburns.”
My subsequent thought: “Daring selection with the striped shirt, denims, and flip flops!”
Then I gave myself some grace.
I’m deeply uncomfortable with the highlight. I hate public talking. It makes me wish to vomit each single time. I additionally don’t like being on digital camera.
And but, I’ve concepts that I feel may also help folks.
So I write and share my concepts. And typically, I power myself to get on stage. For this speak, I needed to take two buses by way of the jungles of Ecuador (the place I used to be residing on the time), after which take two flights to get to Atlanta.
I stayed at my good friend Kappy’s home, and the night time earlier than the speak, I made a decision to remain up and rewrite the entire rattling factor. That morning, I practiced my speak to his two canines, after which hurried over to Emory and simply went full YOLO and shouted my speak into the universe.
12 years later, rewatching this speak, I’ve ideas.
If you wish to make a journey down reminiscence lane, you possibly can watch the speak on YouTube, which surprisingly has over 100,000 views.
My Greatest Shock Rewatching…
It wasn’t as embarrassing as I assumed!
Child Steve truly had some first rate concepts and was an okay storyteller! Particularly when you think about I had rewritten the whole speak 12 hours prior and was on zero hours of sleep. Oh, to be younger and naive once more.
That is the slide that cracked me up probably the most, and I feel the one I wish to spend probably the most period of time on:
All through most of my early 20s, I spent an unhealthy period of time taking part in video video games. On the time, I had satisfied myself that the video video games had been the issue. They’d turn out to be too addicting, too fulfilling, they usually had been the explanation I wasn’t making a lot progress in my actual life.
The fact is one degree deeper. It wasn’t simply the video video games. It was that I didn’t have a lot life to sit up for. I didn’t like my job (promoting development gear), I didn’t have objectives or issues in my private life to sit up for. So I escaped into video video games.
Older and wiser and with shorter sideburns, I’ve a greater understanding of human conduct and my very own private struggles with procrastination and escape.
As specified by my good friend Nir Eyal’s e book Indistractable, if we don’t handle the foundation reason for distraction or escape, our brains will get excellent at discovering one more factor to get hooked on!
In different phrases, if you happen to can go one degree deeper as to WHY you’re procrastinating or avoiding actuality (presumably with the assist of remedy) it could actually show you how to get out of the rut.
As soon as I discovered one thing to sit up for (for me it was turning life into an journey online game like Zelda and EverQuest), all of the sudden video video games grew to become a far much less interesting use of my restricted free time.
As of late, I nonetheless play video video games repeatedly (I simply completed Fallout 4), however I now know extra.
When video video games take over an excessive amount of of my life, it’s in all probability as a result of I’m avoiding confronting the truth of an issue in life.
Perhaps I’m scared to get again to work on my secret-book-shaped challenge, as a result of I fear it’s not adequate. Or perhaps I’m avoiding an uncomfortable dialog or addressing an actual downside in my life.
So, the answer isn’t unplugging the Ps. It’s addressing the issue I’m truly working onerous to keep away from.
It’s higher to know why I’m procrastinating as an alternative of simply blaming it on video video games.
How’s My Epic Quest Going?
In my speak, I speak about my Bucket Checklist, which I renamed my Epic Quest of Superior. For 8 years, this was a giant focus of mine.
Actually incomes expertise factors for undertaking quests in actual life.
I did this after exercising world wide and residing 14 months of journey journey.
I even bought a e book revealed about turning life right into a sport, Stage Up Your Life, again in 2016. I just lately reacquired the rights to this e book, and I’m hoping to place out a Model 2 within the coming 12 months.
(This is the reason you possibly can’t purchase it now, sorry about that!).
12 years later, life is a bit totally different.
For those who’ve been studying this text for the previous 12 months, you might need observed a theme: acceptance and self-compassion.
I’ve modified my perspective on objectives.
I had run myself ragged for over a decade, constructing Nerd Health, giving as a lot as attainable, chasing the subsequent purpose. Every purpose led to the subsequent purpose. Every dragon slain required me to go discover one other dragon.
It grew to become an limitless loop of perpetual “extra extra extra.”
And ultimately I spotted that I had gotten fairly far-off from what truly made me completely satisfied.
These previous few years, I’ve determined to reside a bit in another way.
As an alternative of huge long run objectives with dramatically organized plans, I’ve narrowed my focus to: “How can I’ve day right this moment?”
I reside as if I’ll NEVER “get there.”
I nonetheless have objectives, and I nonetheless have issues I hope to perform in life.
I’m simply taking part in a distinct sport than I used to be at 28. I feel this “life is a sport” philosophy served me nicely on the time, and I feel now I’ve added just a few further doses of actuality to how this performs out.
For someone caught in a rut, and escaping an excessive amount of into digital worlds, I feel enthusiastic about life like a online game could be a fairly enjoyable solution to attempt to escape of that rut.
It may not work for everyone, however I feel having issues to sit up for, and objectives to work on, after which discovering methods to make tiny bits of progress may also help.
I cowl this in an article known as “A Nerd’s Information to Success and Happiness” which nonetheless holds up!
A bit of little bit of nuance and perspective can go a good distance when gamifying life!
Wading into the Remark Part…
I made the perilous option to wade into the cesspool of the web:
The remark part on my video.
I used to be shocked to see that 95% of the feedback had been tremendous constructive!
There was one remark although, that offered me a singular alternative to do one thing I’ve at all times wished to do.
Show someone flawed on the web.
In my speak, I discussed that I hoped to someday deadlift 400+ kilos. I grew up scrawny and weak, and I later discovered that I’ve spondylolisthesis, which implies two of my vertebrae don’t line up.
For the previous 15 years, deadlifting has been my favourite train. It’s the motion that has made me really feel probably the most robust and empowered.
I went and located a video of myself from 2018, the place after 6+ years of devoted, gradual progress and concentrate on getting stronger, I deadlifted 420 kilos at a body weight of 172 lbs. No belt, straps, and double overhand grip too!
And sure. 12 years later, I HAD to answer and let the man know I did it.
Not gonna lie, it felt good proving a random web commenter flawed! Hahahaha
Petty and pointless? Yep!
Satisfying? Very.
Two Buttons: Energy and Reset
I completed my speak with one thing that was way more highly effective than I had anticipated.
The unique Nintendo Leisure System has two buttons: POWER and RESET.
Within the sport of life, we get to hit the ability button as soon as. It activates after we’re born, and it turns off after we die.
However we even have a chance to hit the RESET Button. If there’s a thought or id you have got that’s now not serving you, or some side of life that simply isn’t working…it’s okay to hit the reset button.
It’s okay to attempt once more, even if you happen to failed the final time.
Bear in mind, our data carries over, and we by no means begin again at sq. one.
Sport on, my fellow nerd!
-Steve
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