For the first time in 10+ years, I rewatched my 2012 TEDx talk:
“TheNerd Fitness and Resetting the Game of Life.The”
My first thought: “Whoa, Steve. Those are some EPIC sideburns.
My next thought: “Bold choice with the striped shirt, jeans, and flip flops!”
Then I gave myself some grace.
I’m not comfortable in the spotlight. I hate public speaking. I feel like throwing up every single time. I don’t like being on camera either.
However, I have some ideas that I think will help people.
So I write and share my ideas. And sometimes, I force myself to go up on stage. For this talk, I had to take two buses through the jungles of Ecuador (where I used to live), and then take two flights to get to Atlanta.
I stayed at my friend Kappy’s house, and the night before the conversation, I decided to stay up and rewrite the whole thing. That morning, I practiced my conversation with his two dogs, and then rushed over to Emory and just YOLO’d and shouted my conversation into space.
12 years later, rewatching this conversation, I have a thought.
If you want to take a trip down memory lane, you can Thewatch the talk on YouTubeThewhich surprisingly has over 100,000 views.
My Biggest Surprise rewatching…
It’s not as embarrassing as I thought!
Baby Steve actually has some decent ideas and is an okay storyteller! Especially when you consider that I rewrote the entire conversation 12 hours before and in no time for sleep. Oh, to be young and naive again.
This is the slide that cracked me up the most, and I think the one I want to spend the most time on:
Throughout my early 20s, I spent an unhealthy amount of time playing video games. At the time, I convinced myself that video games were the problem. They’ve become too addictive, too fun, and they’re the reason I’m not making much progress in my real life.
The truth is a level deeper. It’s not just video games. It was that I didn’t have much life to look forward to. I don’t like my job (selling construction equipment), I don’t have goals or things in my personal life to look forward to. So I ran away from video games.
Older and wiser and with shorter sideburns, I have a better understanding of human behavior and my own personal struggles with procrastination and escapism.
As stated in my friend Nir Eyal’s book TheRestlessThe, if we can’t address the root of the distraction or escape, our brains will become very good at finding something else to catch!
In other words, if you can go one level deeper into WHY you are procrastinating or avoiding the truth (may include Thetherapy helpThe) it will help you get out of trouble.
Once I find something to look forward to (for me it turns life into an adventure video game like Zelda and EverQuest), video games suddenly became less appealing in my limited free time.
These days, I still play video games regularly (I just finished Fallout 4), but I know better now.
When video games took over my life, it was probably because I avoid facing the reality of a life problem.
Maybe I’m afraid to go back to work on my secret-book project, because I’m worried it won’t be enough. Or maybe I’m avoiding an uncomfortable conversation or fixing a real problem in my life.
So, the solution is not unplugging the Playstation. This addresses the problem I was really trying to avoid.
Better to know why I procrastinate instead of just blaming it on video games.
How is My Epic Quest?
In my speech, I talk about my Bucket List, which I replaced with my Epic Quest of Awesome. For a good 8 years, this was a big focus of mine.
Literally gaining experience points for doing quests in real life.
I did it afterwards Theworkout around the worldThe and living The14 months of adventure travelThe.
I even got a book published about making life into a game, Level up your life, in 2016. I recently acquired the rights to this book, and hope to release Version 2 in the coming year.
(This is why you can’t buy it now, sorry!).
12 years later, life is a little different.
If you’ve been reading this newsletter over the past year, you may have noticed a theme: Theacceptance and self-compassionThe.
I changed my perspective on goals.
I’ve been running myself crazy for over a decade, building Nerd Fitness, giving as much as I can, chasing the next goal. Each goal leads to the next goal. Every dragon slain requires me to find another dragon.
It becomes an endless loop of endless “more.”
And in the end I realized that I was quite far from what really made me happy.
In recent years, I have decided to live a little differently.
Instead of big long-term goals with highly organized plans, I narrowed my focus to: “How can I have a good day today?”
I live like TheI will NOT “get there.”The
I still have goals, and I still have things I hope to accomplish in life.
I just play a different game than I did when I was 28. I think this “life is a game” philosophy served me well at the time, and I think now I’ve added a few extra doses of reality to how it plays out.
For someone who is stuck in a rut, and escapes a lot in virtual worlds, I think thinking about life like a video game can be a pretty fun way to try and get out of that rut.
It might not work for everyone, but I think having things to look forward to, and goals to work toward, and then finding ways to make small progress can help.
I cover this in an article called “TheA Nerd’s Guide to Success and HappinessThe” that still holds!
A little nuance and perspective can go a long way when making life fun!
Go to the Comment Section…
I made the dangerous choice to wade into the cesspool of the internet:
The comment section on my video.
I was surprised to see that 95% of the comments were overwhelmingly positive!
had one comment however, that gave me a unique opportunity to do something I’ve always wanted to do.
Prove someone wrong on the internet.
In my speech, I mentioned that I hope to one day deadlift 400+ pounds. I grew up scrawny and frail, and later found out I had spondylolisthesis, which means two of my vertebrae don’t line up.
For the past 15 years, deadlifting has been my favorite exercise. This is the movement that made me feel the strongest and most empowered.
I went and saw a Thevideo of myself from 2018Thewhere after 6+ years of dedicated, slow growth and focus on getting stronger, I deadlifted 420 pounds at a bodyweight of 172 lbs. No belt, strap, and double overhand grip too!
And yes. 12 years later, I had to respond and let the guy know I did it.
Not going to lie, it feels good to prove some random internet commenter wrong! Hahaha
Small and unnecessary? Yes!
enjoyable? very
Two Buttons: Power and Reset
I ended my speech with something more powerful than I expected.
The original Nintendo Entertainment System had two buttons: POWER and RESET.
In the game of life, we hit the power button once. It opens when we are born, and it turns when we die.
But we also have the opportunity to press the RESET Button. If you have an idea or identity that no longer serves you, or some aspect of life that isn’t working…it’s okay to hit the reset button.
It’s okay to try again, even if you failed the last time.
Remember, Theour knowledge is carriedTheand we’re not going to start back at square one.
Game on, my fellow nerds!
-Steve
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