Good Decisions Require Little Thought—kind of like a Video Game

Life, in a lot of ways, is like playing a video game.  Can you imagine how much better your life would be if it was as easy as playing The Sims?  You can just point, click, give your character a command, and voila… it’s done!  No sweat.  No extra thinking and overthinking.  It’s done for you right away.

But can life be as easy as that?  When you want your character to work out, you just tell him to do it and he does it.  If you tell him to work out regularly, you will see the benefits of the work he puts in.  How is that any different than how working out would be in real life?  If you want to work out and get in shape, then do it.  What’s stopping you?

You don’t need heavy equipment.  You don’t need permission.  Just go out and walk 30-minutes each day.  Get a gym membership.  Eat better.  Why are such decisions so difficult to make?  It shouldn’t take that much thought to decide to do the right thing for you and your body.  And every day you work out, you will reap the rewards.

The difference is, when you’re playing The Sims, you’re the one making all the decisions for your character.  You tell them what they need to do.  You’re the godlike entity holding the mouse and the intelligence to tell the character what’s best for them.  You tell them to eat when they’re hungry, to play with their kids, to kiss the wife, et cetera.

You Don’t Need to Wait for Permission

Life can be as seamless as “The Sims” if we allow it to be.  But our mind often gets in the way of us making basic decisions.  For example, if you wanted to pursue an interest, the game world makes it seem easy.  Just point and click to ask her out.  Fairly simple, right?  But the real world can be a bit more difficult.

Suddenly you’re worried about being rejected.  “What if she doesn’t like me back?  What if I’m not her type?” Those thoughts are you letting fear paralyze you.

The game version of you wouldn’t be afraid to ask someone out, why are you waiting for permission to do something? 

If you want it, go get it.  There’s no such thing as a perfect decision.

Here’s another way to think about it: the answer is going to be the same whether or not you overthink the decision first.  If you wait to ask her out because of the fear, then maybe get a little courage, the answer will be the exact same if you just up and do it.  The only way the answer would be different is if you left fear keep you from doing it at all.  You won’t know unless you try.

Take Care of Yourself

Your Sim doesn’t really know how to take care of itself.  If you don’t direct him to the bathroom, he’ll hold it until he has no other choice than to go on the carpet.  If you don’t direct him to eat, he will die of starvation.  In the same way, we seem to wait to be told we can take care of ourselves.

It’s true!  We are always taking care of everyone else, directing the ‘traffic’ in our lives, clicking that mouse to make sure so-and-so is doing well, but how often do we focus on our own health?  Do we get enough sleep at night?  Do we eat right and work out?  Are you stressed out?

All of these situations are well within your control.  You don’t need to wait for permission to take care of yourself.  If you’re exhausted, take things slower.  Get more rest.  Find ways to de-stress.  Eat the right way, carve out some time to work out, and do what you need to do.  You don’t have to wait until the worst happens before you start kicking your life into gear.

The number one lesson you’ll learn from The Sims or any other game is that at some point, we will all die.  Except this time, we don’t get an extra life.  There is no second chance.  We must figure out how to get it all right the first time.  Don’t let fear paralyze you.  You are the only one holding the mouse and making the clicks.  Make it work for you.