Life is a Game
How to Win by Lightening Up
Have you ever noticed how successful people are usually smiling, even before they are successful?
Billionaires, like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are usually smiling. If you check their pictures before they were successful, you can see they smile a lot, no matter what they are doing. If you watch their videos, you can observe how they treat their work and lives as games.
The winners in all fields treat their lives as games. Sports stars, great actors, best-selling authors, brilliant scientists, amazing doctors, charasmatic leaders, popular artists, Nobel Prize winners and brilliant innovators all seem to be playing a game and having fun, right?
Is life a fun game for you?
Or a drudgery?
Is it pleasant or stressful?
Are you winning your game of life? Do you even know it’s a game?
Myths about Being Serious
Certain myths about work and life can pull you down.
“Work is not supposed to be fun.”
“Treating patients is a serious business.”
“It’s time for you to grow up and get serious.”
“Life sucks and then you die.”
Perhaps the oldest myth of all: “People think I’m important if I am really serious.”
Fixing problems by getting even MORE serious is like fixing a computer with a hammer. The more serious you get, the worse the problem becomes until you completely fail.
As a result of being too serious, you attract problems to yourself.
Ten Problems with Being Too Serious
1. You suffer from extra stress, worry, anxiety, emotional pain and drudgery.
2. People tend to misunderstand you and then oppose you. You even get enemies.
3. You fail more often than you win.
4. You are rarely excited about anything.
5. You do things the hard way. Winning at work, and the game of life itself, is more difficult than it needs to be.
6. Your financial condition is rarely as good you wish it was.
7. Your relationships are frequently in turmoil.
8. You use bad habits to get peace and relief in life.
9. You have bad luck.
10. Worst of all, you take yourself too seriously.
Ten Problems with Taking Yourself Too Seriously
1. You are easily offended. You have a thin skin.
2. Instead of learning from your losses and failures, you hide them or justify them.
3. Being “right” and proving others are wrong is more important than being correct.
4. Accepting help is difficult, especially if it makes you look weak.
5. You have a self-importance button. Being respected and admired is more important to you than almost everything else.
6. You hold onto bad ideas despite proof they are bad ideas.
7. You do not understand why people to not see how important you really are.
8. Letting go of personal conflicts is difficult; you hold onto grudges.
9. You constantly feel a little angry, revengeful, sad or upset.
10. You do not have much fun.
Fortunately, once you lighten up and stop taking yourself, and your life games so seriously, you earn some incredible benefits.
Ten Benefits of Lightening up
1. As soon as you lighten up a little, you start to feel like you are playing Monopoly or tennis or a video game.
2. You have a thicker skin. You are not easily offended. You do not worry what people think of you.
3. If you lose a single battle in the war, you jump back in with enthusiasm. Losing is just part of the game and not nearly as dramatic. Success is not a life-or-death issue.
4. As you stop being so serious, everyone around you eventually lightens up, too. They feel like teammates instead of fans or competitors.
5. Your view widens and expands. You see the big picture. Your strategies improve.
6. People like to follow you because you share your enthusiasm and success with your team. You help them to be valuable and important winners.
7. You become a game player instead of a game piece. For example, you come up with brilliant strategies for your team to win. You even sacrifice your personal success for the good of the team.
8. You feel playful and motivated, for a change.
9. The journey to your goals is more enjoyable. Each step to your destination is just as rewarding as achieving the goal.
10. You become an A-Performer Superhero!
Fortunately, everyone can take action to enjoy these ten benefits. All you need to do take action!