<ol><li>Difficulty increases as you progress.</li><li>If there are no obstacles you’re going in the wrong direction. </li><li>Look for secrets and do some side quests to get better fast. </li><li>You have multiple lives, but don't waste them.</li><li>Tutorials will save you later even if they don’t seem useful at first.</li><li>Use the pause button. You'll feel better, with a clear mind.</li><li>Don't be that player who only cares about themselves. </li><li>Explore the map. Maybe something interesting will pop up.</li><li>Offer help to those in need, but don't feel bad when they lack the drive to keep going.</li><li>Help the less fortunate. </li><li>Good things and bad things appear differently. </li><li>Everyone wants to be a hero, even bad people.</li><li>Let things go. Don’t forget, but don’t be burdened, either.</li><li>There's a pattern to games, and to life. </li><li>You're not alone. </li></ol>

Real Life Lessons From Videogames

Self Improvement

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You don't want to admit it, but it's true. It's that one undeniable fact you can't escape. Right up there with death and taxes.
You need video <a href="http://www.forbes.com/games/">games</a>.
Oh sure, you can deny. Pretend that it's not true. But you do. Because video games give us the best life lessons. And I'm not talking about things like 'the best food is in abandoned buildings' or 'when people flash red, hit harder'. No. Not those lessons. Real life lessons.
Difficulty increases the further you progress: Every game starts off the same. Challenges that test us, that push us to the limit. Right from the beginning. Well, life is the same way. And just as the level of the bad guys increases as the game progresses, stress of life increases as we get older. Because really, that thing we call age, is just counting levels. You call them years, but does that rally mean something? Not to you. You don't feel that time progressing. It's not like you have a built in clock that let's you know how many revolutions around the sun you've made. What you do have is experience. A collection of knowledge gained within a specific time frame, under specific parameters. Sounds like gaining XP to me. So, just as you progress, so do the challenges. They're going to get harder. But you've accumulated knowledge in order to combat those challenges. Right? If not, go back and level up some more. Get some experience so you can tackle those challenges. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you dive into a problem you're not ready for, you're going to fail.
No obstacles? Wrong direction: Life is supposed to be difficult. It's supposed to be challenging. And it's supposed to get harder as you progress. That's just the way it is. The problems you face in adulthood make the problems you faced in childhood look simple by comparison. And it might be nice not to have lots of opposition. It might make getting through tasks easier. But you don't grow. You don't learn. You don't get better without a little adversity. So, don't run from a fight. Face it. Have some bad guys. Get into danger. Getting yourself out is how you improve yourself.
Look for the secrets and do some side quests: This is how you get better. This is how you improve yourself. The fastest way to get experience is all the side things that are available. And in life, there's always a side quest ready to go. It could be as simple as putting together a piece of furniture, or learning a new skill. Maybe you'd like to be an amateur carpenter, of impress all your friends with apple roses. Does that help you get to where you go? No, but it makes you a better person. And you enjoy the journey that much more.
You have more than one life: In a lot of classic games, you got multiple lives. Often represented by hearts. In modern console games, you don't really need lives, as your health will recharge if you take damage. So imagine your chances in life like one of those retro games. You start out with three lives. You can earn more by meeting goals, by advancing far enough, or by exploring. It's the same in life. The more you advance, the more opportunities will come your way. And it's no big deal if one of those hearts goes away. You can always refill. It's rare that you miss that big chance without a replacement around the corner. You will always have another opportunity. To make a change, to be different. To reinvent yourself. To succeed. Just because you miss one doesn't mean the game is over. You'll get another chance. You might have to start back a little bit or, if you're lucky enough, right where you left off. But the difference is, you get that chance. Don't waste your lives though. They don't grow on trees. Do your best to take advantage of the opportunities in front of you.
Tutorials will save you later: There's a lot in the tutorial or the directions that you don't think you need. Until that situation comes up. Then, you're left scrambling, flipping through pages or frantically searching the internet for an answer. Sounds like real life, doesn't it? Now, I can't say that everything you learn and everything taught will be used. Maybe on the quest line you chose, that bit of information doesn't come into play. But when we're learning, we can't fully know which direction we're going to take later. I'm sure there's thousands of people who think 'I never need to calculate the volume of a cylinder' or 'I have not once in my life used that algebra equation'. And that might be true. But what about all the people who do need to know that stuff? You never know what bit of information will become relevant some time down the line. You never know what fact will save the day. Pay attention to everything, store it for later. Because it's going to come in handy.
Take advantage of the pause button: In the real world, we don't have a magic button that can stop time and halt the action. So we have to do that ourselves. Don't forget to take a moment, relax, see the world. If all you do is put your head down and trudge through life, you'll miss all the beauty. Someone spent a lot of time and money rendering those graphics. Make sure you take them in, as much as possible. Take a second to sit back and marvel at the wonders all around you. It may seem silly, but you'll feel better, more refreshed. You can tackle all the problems in front of you if you've got a clear mind.
: Don't be that player who only cares about yourself. Don't be that human, either. Do something for others. Look out for other people. Work together. You can solve a lot of problems when you put egos aside and realize when one succeeds, the team succeeds. You can move a lot faster alone, but you can go a lot farther in a group.
Explore the map: This one can be taken quite literally. In a game, going off in a random direction can sometimes net an interesting result. Don't just go to the destination. Don't just stay on track. Meander a bit. Look around. Take some time to explore. Maybe something interesting pops up. Maybe you come to an interesting food vendor, or someone that has that tool you were looking for but couldn't find. Either way, the map is big. And there's a lot of ground to cover. If you stick with a single area, resources are going to get depleted. You won't uncover anything new. So, go explore.
Don't help the helpless: Seems counter-intuitive to one of the previous lessons, 'Be a team player', doesn't it? But here's what it means. Offer help to anyone who needs it, but don't feel bad when they lack the drive to keep going. You can't carry them and yourself. In a game, you may have a companion that seems worthless, that gets lost in a fight, that does nothing, or maybe even gets you in trouble. In life, there's going to be people who lack the self-motivation to keep going, to push themselves. You can't worry about them. Everyone should be given a chance, but not if they squander that chance. You can't waste valuable resources on someone who's just going to drain them away and take them from people who really need them. Be charitable as much as you can, but at the same time, know who you're giving those resources to. You can't help everyone. You can't save everyone. It is a simple fact of life. Don't sacrifice yourself trying to pull someone out of the muck when all they will end up doing is drowning you beside them.
Do help the less fortunate: Someone out there needs help. And someone out there will benefit greatly from that help. They lack the opportunity to pull themselves out of the muck and shine. Give them that opportunity. You'll find out very quickly who is motivated and who is not. The people who are motivated to get out of their situation will take all the help they can get. Because they could get back on track and become something amazing if they caught a break. If you're fortunate, then you caught a break. That's the difference. Something went your way. It didn't have to. Imagine what some people could do if they were given a chance, just like you. But like the previous rule, know the difference between someone waiting and someone taking. And doing so might just net you a valuable ally.
Good things and bad things appear differently: Things you do wrong stick around for years. People remember the bad. They remember the weak points. They forget the good. The 'good' has to be so memorable that it completely and utterly wipes out the memory of the bad. Otherwise, all people will see are the mistakes. And the true irony is that people will remember the past differently as well. They want to remember the past better than it was. It gives them solace. Good or bad, the past is always better than today. Even if that's not true. All it means is you can't let personal desires cloud your vision. Of the good things in others, of the bad things, or of the past.
Everyone wants to be a hero: We all imagine ourselves as the hero of the story. Even bad people. Hitler was cleaning up the world. At least, in his eyes. Everyone wants to be a good guy at some point in time, and rarely do they understand that they're the bad guy. Because no one starts out wanting to be evil. No one wants to be hated. Well, maybe a few. But for the rest, all it boils down to is a good idea executed the wrong way. Killing millions of people is not the right way, but looking for a way to better society and stop poverty isn't so terrible.
Let go: You can't hoard everything. Whether it be possessions or feelings, let it go. In the end, it will all weigh you down. You've only got room for so much. If you want to be bogged down and trudge along never accomplishing anything, sure keep that memory. But odds are, it will keep you from doing what you need to do. You don't have to forget, but you don't have to be burdened, either. Stuff is just stuff, even when it has sentimental value. Don't let old memories get in the way of where you're going.
Know the pattern: There's a pattern to life. How things work, how things move, how things progress. Once you've got the timing down, you can move forward by leaps and bounds. Take some time and study the patterns. Figure out the way to move forward. Even if you've got to go backward a little, stick to the pattern. You'll get to the destination eventually.
You're not alone: We all feel like that sometimes. We all feel like there's an empty world around us, or that no one understands. And while everyone is unique and special in their own way, none of us are alone. And everyone carries scars. You just might not see them. But that doesn't mean they're not there. It just means some people are better at hiding them. You might meet people who appear fine on the surface. But they've got problems, just like you.
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You don't want to admit it, but it's true. It's that one undeniable fact you can't escape. Right up there with death and taxes. You need video games. Oh sure, you can deny. Pretend that it's not true. But you do. Because video games give us the best life lessons.

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to upgrade
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Bite‑sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

15 Lessons About Life We Learn From Video Games

Real Life Lessons From Videogames

9 Valuable Life Lessons We Learned From Gaming

7 Life Lessons I Learned Playing Video Games

Can You Really Be Addicted to Video Games?

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career