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 alternative 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 need to vomit each single time. I additionally don’t like being on digital camera.
And but, I’ve concepts that I feel can assist folks.
So I write and share my concepts. And generally, I pressure myself to get on stage. For this speak, I needed to take two buses by means of the jungles of Ecuador (the place I used to be dwelling on the time), after which take two flights to get to Atlanta.
I stayed at my pal Kappy’s home, and the evening 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 canine, 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 may watch the speak on YouTube, which surprisingly has over 100,000 views.
My Largest Shock Rewatching…
It wasn’t as embarrassing as I believed!
Child Steve really had some first rate concepts and was an okay storyteller! Particularly when you think about I had rewritten your complete 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 essentially the most, and I feel the one I need to spend essentially the most period of time on:
All through most of my early 20s, I spent an unhealthy period of time enjoying video video games. On the time, I had satisfied myself that the video video games had been the issue. That they had turn out to be too addicting, too fulfilling, they usually had been the rationale I wasn’t making a lot progress in my actual life.
The truth 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 tools), I didn’t have targets 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 habits and my very own private struggles with procrastination and escape.
As specified by my pal Nir Eyal’s ebook Indistractable, if we don’t handle the foundation explanation for distraction or escape, our brains will get excellent at discovering yet 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 (probably with the assist of remedy) it may possibly provide help 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), immediately video video games grew to become a far much less interesting use of my restricted free time.
Nowadays, I nonetheless play video video games often (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 most likely as a result of I’m avoiding confronting the truth of an issue in life.
Possibly I’m scared to get again to work on my secret-book-shaped undertaking, as a result of I fear it’s not ok. Or possibly 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 really 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 Listing, which I renamed my Epic Quest of Superior. For a great 8 years, this was a giant focus of mine.
Actually incomes expertise factors for conducting quests in actual life.
I did this after exercising world wide and dwelling 14 months of journey journey.
I even acquired a ebook printed about turning life right into a recreation, Degree Up Your Life, again in 2016. I not too long ago reacquired the rights to this ebook, and I’m hoping to place out a Model 2 within the coming yr.
(This is the reason you may’t purchase it now, sorry about that!).
12 years later, life is a bit totally different.
Should you’ve been studying this article for the previous yr, you might need observed a theme: acceptance and self-compassion.
I’ve modified my perspective on targets.
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 finally I noticed that I had gotten fairly distant from what really made me completely satisfied.
These previous few years, I’ve determined to dwell a bit otherwise.
As an alternative of huge long run targets with dramatically organized plans, I’ve narrowed my focus to: “How can I’ve a great day immediately?”
I dwell as if I’ll NEVER “get there.”
I nonetheless have targets, and I nonetheless have issues I hope to perform in life.
I’m simply enjoying a unique recreation than I used to be at 28. I feel this “life is a recreation” philosophy served me nicely on the time, and I feel now I’ve added a number of additional 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 eager about life like a online game is usually 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 targets to work on, after which discovering methods to make tiny bits of progress can assist.
I cowl this in an article referred to 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 novel alternative to do one thing I’ve at all times wished to do.
Show someone unsuitable on the web.
In my speak, I discussed that I hoped to at some point deadlift 400+ kilos. I grew up scrawny and weak, and I later discovered that I’ve spondylolisthesis, which suggests 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 essentially the most robust and empowered.
I went and located a video of myself from 2018, the place after 6+ years of devoted, sluggish development and deal with 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 unsuitable! Hahahaha
Petty and pointless? Yep!
Satisfying? Very.
Two Buttons: Energy and Reset
I completed my speak with one thing that was much more highly effective than I had anticipated.
The unique Nintendo Leisure System has two buttons: POWER and RESET.
Within the recreation of life, we get to hit the ability button as soon as. It activates once we’re born, and it turns off once we die.
However we even have a possibility to hit the RESET Button. If there’s a thought or identification you’ve that’s now not serving you, or some facet 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.
Keep in mind, our information carries over, and we by no means begin again at sq. one.
Sport on, my fellow nerd!
-Steve
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