Level Up Your Life - Steve Kamb

[Rezdent]

Subtitle:  How to Unlock Adventure and Happiness by Becoming the Hero of Your Own Story...

I just got this book, and I like it.  I think it is a good starter on designing your life around your core values and what makes you happy.

I'm a geeky gamer, and the superhero references and the idea of designing my own quests really appeal to me.
Anyone else here reading this one?

[thatbrowncat]

I pre-ordered one and finished it in 2 days!

Steve's perspective on fitness and videogames definitely resonate with me. I used to be holed up in my batcave playing Japanese Role Playing Games from 9- 16 years of age. Then one day, it hit me: I like exploring in games, talking to people, trying out new stuff, visiting new shops... yet I don't do that in real life. That's what Steve went through, right?


Just recently, I thought of applying Harvest Moon : BTN to gamify my life. (I kinda like farming and home improvement.)

I also created my own alter ego! ( to apply what I've read)

Are you also active in the Nerd Fitness forums?

[ShortInSeattle]

I just put it on hold at the library. Looks good!

[Rezdent]

I pre-ordered one and finished it in 2 days!

Steve's perspective on fitness and videogames definitely resonate with me. I used to be holed up in my batcave playing Japanese Role Playing Games from 9- 16 years of age. Then one day, it hit me: I like exploring in games, talking to people, trying out new stuff, visiting new shops... yet I don't do that in real life. That's what Steve went through, right?


Just recently, I thought of applying Harvest Moon : BTN to gamify my life. (I kinda like farming and home improvement.)

I also created my own alter ego! ( to apply what I've read)

Are you also active in the Nerd Fitness forums?

I've been lurking on the NF forum for a while.  I don't post much over there, but I enjoy the community a lot, they are very supportive.

Sounds like you are farther ahead than me - 2 days!  Impressive.
I'm planning to read the book once, then go back and work through it to create my quests.  Fun stuff.

[thatbrowncat]

I pre-ordered one and finished it in 2 days!

Steve's perspective on fitness and videogames definitely resonate with me. I used to be holed up in my batcave playing Japanese Role Playing Games from 9- 16 years of age. Then one day, it hit me: I like exploring in games, talking to people, trying out new stuff, visiting new shops... yet I don't do that in real life. That's what Steve went through, right?


Just recently, I thought of applying Harvest Moon : BTN to gamify my life. (I kinda like farming and home improvement.)

I also created my own alter ego! ( to apply what I've read)

Are you also active in the Nerd Fitness forums?

I've been lurking on the NF forum for a while.  I don't post much over there, but I enjoy the community a lot, they are very supportive.

Sounds like you are farther ahead than me - 2 days!  Impressive.
I'm planning to read the book once, then go back and work through it to create my quests.  Fun stuff.

Thank you :)

Steve's book isn't made to be read in one sitting. It's meant to be browsed through over again to work on the exercises he wrote (create your own origin story, make your own quests, create your own rules). Truth is, I'm re-reading the book again :)

Fun stuff indeed!

I have an account there, and I'm somewhat active in the Daily Battle Log.

[Frankies Girl]

Haven't read the book yet, but like the site okay. Unfortunately his "beginner" routines are still waaaaay too advanced for the likes of me.

[arebelspy]

Disclaimer:  I haven't read the book, but have read a fair amount of the ideas online that he codified into a book.

When the concept of gamifying your life became popular a few years back, I thought it was clever on an intellectual level, but I have a hard time "tricking" my brain to actually make it practical.

Does he address this problem?

[Rezdent]

Disclaimer:  I haven't read the book, but have read a fair amount of the ideas online that he codified into a book.

When the concept of gamifying your life became popular a few years back, I thought it was clever on an intellectual level, but I have a hard time "tricking" my brain to actually make it practical.

Does he address this problem?

The leveling up concept seems a bit different to me than the gamify concept.  The gamify that I stumbled across seemed like a Walter Mitty life - "well, I'm a dishwasher, how can I make my life more bearable".  It was more about role-playing and less about action - there's a whole chapter on how plans are nothing without action.

If your "character" is a spy who travels the world but you are actually a teacher in  Arizona...build steps and goals to get there, measure progress, overcome obstacles.  Oh, wait...

[arebelspy]

Interesting.  I'd like to hear more on how they're different, if you, or anyone else who's read it, can chime in. :)

[Rezdent]

Part of my job duties include creating interactive education modules, so maybe I am biased with my concept of gamifying - which is where I build in small rewards and storylines to engage the learner and reinforce concepts.
Gamify users are playing a game that has set parameters and pre-determined rewards.  They can pretend, but it is not going to translate into reality.

Steves book is about teaching how to apply these concepts IRL.  The reader designs the game, the character, the measurements, the goals.  Then he moves them forward by having the reader determine what obstacles exist and plans to overcome them, with a goal of integrating the desired life with real life, ideally eventually eliminating any split between the two.

But, as I mentioned above, I might have bias and would like to learn more about gamifying - do you have any resources on it that you could recommend?

[arebelspy]

Steves book is about teaching how to apply these concepts IRL.  The reader designs the game, the character, the measurements, the goals.  Then he moves them forward by having the reader determine what obstacles exist and plans to overcome them, with a goal of integrating the desired life with real life, ideally eventually eliminating any split between the two.

Right, but my question is: how do you get past the mental knowledge of it not being real, and that you're essentially trying to "trick" yourself?

[Rezdent]

I apologize for being a bit dense.  I've been pondering this question and I'm sure I just don't understand it correctly.

People will spend hours a day for months playing a video game, yet they usually fail within days at losing weight or getting fit and then quit.

Steve's argument is that people can apply game design concepts when creating real-life goals, increasing persistence.

Example:
Someone might create a character based on James Bond. They then create steps (levels) to move closer to that ideal.   They determine that their James Bond-like character is at 8% body fat, a black belt in karate, and fluent in Japanese(3 goals).

This person is currently a 200 lb couch potato, so they decide they are at level 0 in fitness and their goal of 8% is level 50.  They are at level 0 Japanese, fluency=level 50, etc.  These can be separate, concurrent goals or wrapped together.  They decide to bundle the bodyfat and Karate, as they overlap.

They define level 1 as joining a karate school and working out 3X/week for six weeks and assign a point scale.
If they don't hit their targets, they repeat as many times as necessary.  They may adjust their measurements for level 1.  If they fall completely off the wagon, they "respawn" and start tackling the levels again.

I don't see how tricking my mind would play into this - did the example help?

[arebelspy]

How is that different than any other goal setting then?  What does it mean to "level up" in that scenario?

[kpd905]

How is that different than any other goal setting then?  What does it mean to "level up" in that scenario?

I just finished the book today.  If you go to Levelupyourlife.com, you can set different goals for yourself, including intermediate steps within each large goal.

When you complete each small task, you get a certain amount of experience points.  After a certain amount of points (100 I think) you level up within that category.

What you do when you level up is really your choice, but it is just a way of measuring your progress.  I'm sure users of the site feel more motivated to complete tasks when they know that their levels are public.  The author mentioned that when he completed a certain number of music related goals, he rewarded himself by buying himself a new guitar.

[Rezdent]

I think it's different because it blends goal-setting concepts with game psychology.
Goal setting is the backbone, but using game concepts to design the goals really made sense to me.
One thing I have done for the last twenty years is read one self-help book every year, and this one is great. I've also been playing games almost as long (Rogue on an Apple II -anyone remember that?).  Games are designed with the goal of engaging the user to keep playing.

By defining the "game" (quests) into smaller chunks (challenges) and assigning a point system  (not all or nothing), it helps the reader to avoid some of the major stumbling blocks encountered with other goal systems.

Assume that someone's quest is to lose 50 pounds.  They define their first "level" as working out 3X/week for three weeks, but they fall short on week three and only work out once.

Most goals systems would label that a "fail, start over from scratch" scenario, and that is where I have seen many people (including me) abandon their goals.  Crap, I didn't meet the goal - fail.
Steve's method would call that a partial success.  You get credit for trying, and be less likely to abandon the goal.  Even if someone does abandon a goal for a while, there's a concept of "respawn" to get back on track.

There is a definite slant towards those who play RPG games (or enjoy fantasy books/movies like "The Lord of the Rings" or the "Hunger Games").

[Urchina]

Coursera offers a gamification class. Free. Here's the link:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/gamification


I love Coursera. I've found the courses to be pretty well-done and interesting. Worth the time, usually.

[MrDelane]

For anyone interested, Steve Kamb was a recent guest on the Art of Manliness podcast.
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2016/01/20/podcast-170-level-up-your-life/

[big_slacker]

I haven't heard of this book but I'm certainly familiar with the concepts having a DEEP gaming background. (former semi-pro, brother works for a large gaming company, etc)

I'm currently using habitica to gamify habits and to do lists. It works well, although I'd say if you could *USE* the character in an actual game, even a weaksauce one, it would be more fun.

For fitness and goals though I don't know that it's necessary to have that framework in place. Maybe it'll help some, not so much for me. I mean, life already has feedback and levels. For instance if you want to get into bike racing you train measuring heartrate at speed, you get faster at the same HR. When you start to race there is CAT5, if you win enough you go up to the next class and so on. It's the same for martial arts with belts and tournament classes, etc.

I do want to check the book out though, thanks for posting about it!

[thatbrowncat]

How is that different than any other goal setting then?  What does it mean to "level up" in that scenario?

I think it's "The same animal, but with a different color" thing..
Steve's book is still selling the idea of goal setting to achieve your dreams. He just dressed it up using the concept of gamification.

Even though I love his book, I admit there are things which I cannot sustain(or deceive myself) for too long.

For example, I created an alter ego. This alter ego is the total opposite of me, yes. However, there are moments that I forgot I created one. I just remind myself from time to time that I made one.

Another scenario: when I'm in a difficult situation, I take 5 minutes to prep myself. This prep time involves me sitting down with a piece of paper and using my imagination that this is just like a game. what would I do? After my 5 minutes are up, I write what I plan and proceed to do them.

Tricking myself only happens during that short span of time.

[arebelspy]

That makes sense.

And that short amount of trick time might be enough, in some circumstances.

Thanks, TBC!

[arebelspy]

Interesting new gamify app, Victories:
http://lifehacker.com/victories-turns-your-to-dos-into-battles-and-being-pro-1756060345

Article also lists 3 other gamify apps at the bottom.

[Rezdent]

Interesting new gamify app, Victories:
http://lifehacker.com/victories-turns-your-to-dos-into-battles-and-being-pro-1756060345

Article also lists 3 other gamify apps at the bottom.

Thank you.  Will check them out.

[Cookie78]

I have this book on hold at the library and should get it soon. I'm really looking forward to it after reading this thread.

I'm really good at goal setting and usually good at following through, but the idea of respawning to get back on track could be very helpful for me. Even if I miss one day I subconsciously consider that a fail and often end up quitting completely, especially when it comes to exercising, or extending my missed day to a few missed weeks before I start up again.

Coursera offers a gamification class. Free. Here's the link:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/gamification


I love Coursera. I've found the courses to be pretty well-done and interesting. Worth the time, usually.

Thanks! Signed up.

[jfietz]

Chapter 2 stood out to me. It made the point that to see progress, you have to take action. You can't continually collect and read about things to help you improve. At some point you actually have to go out and start trying to make improvements.