I still remember the first game I ever played. The 3-year-old me was tucked into a chair. Observing the monitor in front. A fat monitor that would transport me into a world far far away.

I was asked to handle the bike I saw on the screen with the four arrow keys only and not touch any other key. The game was Road Rash.

I used to cry when I pressed the window key. Or anything that brought me out of the game and back into the reality(due to my inability to resume the game back at that age).

It taught me the first valuable life lesson: Focusing on the task at hand. But it wasn’t the most valuable life lesson I’d learned. I’ll come to that after I’ve discussed a few other valuable takeaways.

Hurdles And Difficulties Don’t Cease To Exist

Life is not a bed of roses. Try to make it one and you’d lose the fun. As you would in a game that doesn’t pose challenges.

Each obstacle is an opportunity to grow. To learn, adapt and get better.

At every stage and level, you’d meet a new set of problems. A set of problems that you need to work around to get through. We wouldn’t call them hurdles if there wasn’t a way to overcome them.

From a kid to his old man, everyone faces a different set of challenges. While the old guy might think that life is easy for the kid, it isn’t really. It just seems to be once you’ve overcome it.

As a kid, I always saw the current level as the biggest yet. Until I moved to the next.

Planning Isn’t Enough, Execution Matters

There’s a good reason why the following two quotes are famous:

  • “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” — Benjamin Franklin
  • “Life is a sum of all our choices.” — Albert Camus

A goal without a strategy is waiting to fail. A strategy without execution is just a wish.

Dividing a goal into smaller parts, as most games do(through levels), helps get better in strategizing.

Life gives us a lot of options and every choice we make has a consequence. Getting better at making efficient decisions under pressure is a valuable life lesson I learned while playing.

Creating strategies by analyzing the risk and reward trade-off, knowing when you have the leverage to take risks and, analyzing situations from different points of view before making a decision are just a few lessons I incorporated in life from games.

Strategy games only helped me in formulating plans and improving teamwork with Warcraft and Call of Duty being among my favorites.

Don’t Take Things Too Seriously, There’s No Wrong Time To Start Afresh

Often I find a lot of people(which includes me) pondering a lot over the notion of winning. In turn, they’re bogged down by the stress of it which has an impact on their life and what they need to do.

I for one, use my lessons from games for handling such situations. A game teaches you that despite putting the best efforts, you may not reach your desired goal. Failure is a part and parcel of life. It shows us that we are mortal and there can always be someone better than us.

Instead of taking things too seriously and worrying about the past and future we need to enjoy the present and the process.

Besides, just like games, we always have time to respawn and start things afresh. Or resume a level we’d left long ago.

Games teach us to try again. And again. Until we succeed.

My Most Valuable Lesson

From that kid who played Road Rash right till my sophomore year, I was a gaming freak and would pounce onto most of the games that released in the market.

Often I was asked not to play video games as it causes more harm than good. A continuous strain on the eyes is just one of the cons that I remember to be told. Effects on the brain, due to the dopamine hit it gives you is real.

I’ve stopped playing now primarily due to work. But I wouldn’t have learned those valuable lessons if I’d given into the bits of advice told earlier.

That’s my most valuable life lesson. To follow my instincts and keep an open mind towards everything. You’ll eventually learn something from everything you do. You’d realize it one day if not today. That three-year-old kid wasn’t aware of what he’s learning while playing. The adult in me now knows.

Thanks for reading.