What if from now on I play life exactly like a video game?

If you’re playing Zelda and you discover an amazing cave with toils and treasure, you don’t stop and hang out there until you die. You get the treasure and head out to find more.

But what if that’s what I’m doing by holding on to a job, and a house, trying to save money, not to go into debt — not travel the world beyond my current means. Basically just trying to do things the ‘right’ way.

What if I said fuck this job — I’m out? I’m done working for the man — I’m going to do exactly whatever I choose to from now on — 24/7 — and see where it leads.

Of course in a video game you have to monitor the control panel. But the life meter is the only one that truly matters.

The rest are just there so you can make the optimal decision in each moment.

But you never focused on the control panel in a video game. Only the screen and the current situation at all times.

What if I just treat life’s money meter as a small status bar in the bottom corner of the screen. I would barely think about it while I pay full and focused attention to the video game of life in front of me.

Money, debt, interest, bankruptcy. It’s just part of the game. A blip in the corner.

But it shouldn’t be anything to worry about. If I’m playing a focused game the chances of staying alive and off the street for a long time should be pretty good.

There’s not going to be a dragon that kills me if I fuck up.

In a video game you always go for it, because you’re controlling someone else.

Why should it be any more difficult to control myself, when I’m the actual video game character?

What if I play the world like a giant Zelda land?

What if from now on I do exactly whatever I want to do every day for the rest of my life — until the game clock runs out?

Since it’s kind of easy to not die in this game, what am I worried about?

Why not make the most exciting and aggressive move possible every moment? Nobody ever died from going broke.

Money is just one of the stat’s at the bottom of the screen. It’s a tool — not the game score.

In a video game you’re fully present and focused on making the optimal decision at all times.

The only thing you have to avoid in a video game is dying. And the point is to get as far as you possibly can before you die.

In a video game it wouldn’t be scary to finish writing this, hit the publish button, and quit my job today.

I just started playing this ultimate video game a few days ago, but it’s already had an interesting effect— I stopped worrying about stuff.

The daily self loathing and fretting about what might happen in the future are pointless in a video game. No need to think about how I ended up in a cave on level 9 for so long. This is where I am, so what do I do now?

Is there the possibility of a dragon in a cave on level 12? What good does it do me to speculate about it right now.

In a video game I would just play to have fun, and make the best and most exciting possible progressive move at that particular moment in my current situation— until I die.

We were Ubering home with some friends last weekend and it was getting pretty late. They invited us in for more drinks and shenanigans. It sounded fun.

Normally a couple more drinks would sound groovy at this point. I put on my gamer goggles and surveyed the situation.

My analysis discovered that if this were a video game, I would want to go home and try to score with this human next to me.

That human also happened to be my wife. What a lucky break.

It’s 9:37 right now and I have a meeting with my boss at 10:00. I’m going to hit publish and go quit my job. That’s what I would do in a video game.

If my family becomes homeless and I end up on the streets of this game, I’ll let you know so you don’t try this game.