A game of life
Have you ever looked at your never-ending to-do list and felt like it was an impossible mountain to climb? I know I have. Sometimes it feels like we're so small and powerless, and we can't possibly accomplish everything unless a miracle comes our way.
I'm not here to shame or judge you because I've been in that same boat—struggling with overwhelming tasks and constantly wanting to throw in the towel.
What's frustrating is that everyone around us seems to believe in us, cheering us on and saying we can do it. Yet, somehow, we keep looping back to that feeling of doubt and uncertainty. It's like a never-ending cycle of motivation followed by self-doubt.
But you know what's interesting? I've discovered some valuable lessons through my experiences in an online gaming community. Yeah, video games taught me something about life. They gave me a new way to understand myself and deal with those overwhelming feelings we all face.
Life in Lego World
Last month, my online gaming community and I started playing Minecraft again. For you who don’t know, Minecraft is basically a Lego-inspired game where every object in the game, whether trees, animals, or minerals, are made of blocks. You break blocks to get resources and build everything from those resources.
Minecraft was first released back in May 2009 and has been famous for its creativity. If you can imagine it, you can create it in Minecraft.
Despite how long it was first released and how famous the game is, I’m fairly new to the game. I never actually played it up until I joined this amazing group last year. Thus, I’m sucked at it (which I don’t mind at all, I have plenty of joy running around people's houses and creating chaos)
The simple and universal truth
My friends built a village together. Their houses are fancy, with interesting decorations, they even have animal farms and even an aquarium!
On the other hand, My house was made of dirt, with a wooden door and one bed in it.
I also wanted to build something cool too, but I didn’t know how. One day, I asked one of my friends, “How did you build these fancy buildings? They looked so complicated”. His answer was simple but so clear. “What do you mean? Everything is just blocks putting together.”
It was a simple yet eyes opening message when I let that message sink into my brain. It was that simple. And yet, it reflects everything in our world.
Think about how a majestic mansion is constructed—brick by brick, beam by beam. Each small component, when carefully put together, forms a grand and awe-inspiring structure. Similarly, in the culinary world, a mouthwatering dish starts with simple ingredients that are skillfully combined to create a symphony of flavors.
I somehow often forget this simple fact. That everything that seems daunting and impossible always starts from something small.
Start Small
The Start Small concept suggests that instead of trying to tackle a daunting task all at once, it's often more effective to break it down into smaller, manageable components. By starting small and gradually building momentum, one can make progress and gain confidence along the way.
The idea is often mentioned by many successful people and proved true again and again, yet a lot of us never truly stick with it. Maybe it’s us telling ourselves we can’t do it. Maybe it’s the rushing society that pushes all of our patience off the table. Or maybe we’re afraid of people’s opinions. Let’s tackle these limiting mindsets for a bit here.
Self-Doubt — Why would we think that in the first place? Maybe the voice is our past. That we tried it before, but it didn’t work. But then again, How does it guarantee that we’ll fail again?
Societal pressures — We’re exposed to the beauty coating of people’s lives. Great bodies, famous identities, and financial freedom seem to be common content nowadays. We may not realize it, but those curated messages form a false truth in our heads that those people are a minority of people living in this world. But more importantly, why do we want to be like them “now”?
Fear of judgment — When I think about it, how many people will really focus on your first step doing something? Most people only see the finished product we make. They rarely think about what happened behind the scene. So if that’s the case, who or what are we scared of?
How I apply it to my gaming experience
After my friend gave me his answer, I decided to build a new house. One that wasn’t as fancy as theirs but still pretty advanced for a beginner like me. It was daunting at first, but I decided to go slowly.
I decided to build a house will water curtains surrounding my house instead of walls. I took my first step by watching tutorials on Youtube. Then I went to gather the materials I needed. Some of them were easy to acquire, while others required me more time to explore some more dangerous zone.
Once I had all blocks, I started making it. To no one surprise, I misplaced one of my wall block position and flooded my own house with my own waterfall.
I had no idea how to fix it. I almost gave up on it. Thankfully, hearing my panic screams, asking me if I was alright. “No, I’m not” (I sounded defeated according to one of their reply to me).
They came to my house and helped me fix it. It took us a while, but we finally fixed all the misplaced blocks I did. Now, I have a waterfall curtain house.
This leads me to one last point I want to make.
FYI, Those glowing things are lamps and definitely, not fire ;P
The worst is always better than we anticipated.
When we’re reluctant to do something, we always assume that the worst scenario is going to happen to us. We catastrophize the potential future and are so scared of them, so much so that it stops us from doing it in the first place.
But most of the time, what happens isn’t as half bad as we anticipated. When I was overwhelmed with my work, I tended to think about how people reading my articles would share my articles and comments nasty thing like “He’s a fraud” or “He doesn’t know what he’s doing.” Of course, it stopped me like a great wall of China.
But in reality, people are much nicer than that, and even if I make mistakes, I can always accept them and learn from them. When we perceive what we want to do with the growth mindset, not only it allows us to start tackling those tasks, but it also allows us to be playful and improve ourselves as well.
So next time you feel overwhelmed, ask yourself, “How bad could it be?” and “Is it true?” These two questions, when answered with honesty, will help you get through those daunting moments and move forward.
Summary
Life is a game filled with overwhelming tasks and self-doubt, but by adopting a mindset of starting small and breaking down those tasks, we can overcome our limitations and achieve great things.
The game Minecraft taught me this valuable lesson, showing me that everything in life, just like in the game, is built from smaller components coming together. By embracing this mindset and challenging the negative beliefs that hold us back, we can conquer our fears, make progress, and surprise ourselves with what we can accomplish.
