How to WIN the Game of Life

HOW TO Win the

“Game of Life”

Instructions for Winning the Game with the Power of Habits

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into

someone else’s plan. And guess what they

have planned for you? Not much.“

-Jim Rohn

This Post is a “rule book” meant to give you an idea on how you can mold and make your own existence. We are going to cover some basic rules to the game of life, and discover how you can win it!

You can have a life worth living and sharing with those around you.

You may not know it, but when you make the decision to be better…it doesn’t just affect you. Everyone around you is affected in a positive way. By starting this adventure you could be changing the lives of family members, co-workers, and any who might come into contact with you long enough to learn your story.

This is a game of life, and not just any life…YOURS!

Life is a Game you can WIN! Therefore if it is a game then there must be rules. Have you ever played a new board game without reading the rules?

-The Rules-

The reason Habitification exists is you. Plain and simple. The goal is for YOU to be more, see more, and do more with your important life.

First, lets redefine what it means to be a success. If you were to think of life experiences as currency…how rich are you? Are you growing better each day? Are you learning new things and planning new experiences? Do you love what you do every day? Do you think there are areas in your existence that could be better?

That’s what this is all about. This is dedicated training for you to enjoy life more and have more fun. Let’s break this down into 5 habitual rules to start making your world better and get you moving in the right direction on the “life” game board.

1. Just PLAN Crazy!

Life is short. The older you get the faster it flies by. You need to enjoy it. You need to live it. Life flows in seasons, and whether you’re up or down you can always find ways to improve and enjoy it. The habit of “Planning” is a powerful source of daily direction.

You improve life by planning and accomplishing. By dreaming and doing.

A life well lived is one that has been planned. Here is a great example…have you ever heard of John Goddard? Not everybody has heard of him or his amazing accomplishments. He is an American Adventurer who has mastered the art of setting goals and achieving them.

He is likened to a modern day Indiana Jones and is proof that not only one great accomplishment can be made in this life, but many. When John was 15 he wrote down at the top of a piece of paper these words: “My Life List“

Under that title he wrote 127 very lofty goals.

These were not simple goals easily achieved, but goals which one would have to fight for in order to find successful fulfillment. In his lifetime he achieved 109 of the goals he wrote down. ( for the full list visit: http://www.johngoddard.info/life_list.htm )

Included in this list of goals were tasks such as:

• Traversing the Nile, Congo, and Amazon Rivers
• Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Fuji, and The Matterhorn
• Swimming in Lake Victoria, Superior, and Nicaragua
• Photograph Victoria, Sutherland, and Niagara Falls
• Visit East Island, the Galapagos, and the Taj Mahal
• Take flight in a blimp, balloon, and glider
• Ride an elephant, camel, ostrich, and bronco
• Read Bible cover to cover
• Build a telescope
• Learn Jujitsu
• Write a book

These are just a few of the items which he achieved. Take note the extreme variety of the goals! Nothing for you is in the realm of the impossible. This man was not a superhuman, he just knew how to write down his goals, and learned to accomplish them one at a time. He mastered the habit of planning.

“You need a PLAN for everything, whether it’s building a cathedral or a chicken coop. Without a plan, you’ll postpone living until you’re dead.”

-John Goddard

Mr. Goddard was living proof that anything is possible with a strong belief and a plan. History has proven this time and again with countless successes using the power of planning…but what should your plans be?

2. Prioritize FUN!

I think there is a much more important part here that people overlook. A key ingredient missing from most training. Most people think they should start new life goals with things like “losing weight” or “Working on Relationships” or any major thing you have been putting off.

Those things are good and necessary life elements which need to be better. You do need to make those things happen…BUT I would like to propose something that people leave out way too much. We as a people do not put enough emphasis on experiences which are focused on having fun! Think about it, what are your best memories? What times do you remember most about your family or your closest friends.

For a lot of people it’s simply being with them while having a good time.

Maybe it was a new restaurant with your best friend where you had a great time. Could be a family vacation which everyone remembers for years to come. Maybe you went to the arcade as a kid with your parents and it became a long term memory.

“Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun.”

– Randy Pausch

Experiences help define who we are, yet we fail to plan more amazing experiences with family and friends. More and more people each year are taking less vacation time off of work. People work, work, work, and work some more thinking they are doing a good thing.

It’s what have been taught! Hustle harder than everyone else. Always be “on” so your job doesn’t get taken from you by someone better.

We were not designed to work 365 days a year. Taking time for yourself, family, and friends is an essential part of living…I mean, why are you working anyways? Most peoples answer to that question is “because we are supposed to.” You need time to yourself to reflect. Your family needs time together to have new experiences and have some fun. You need to build memories and enjoy the extremely short time you have on this world.

Whether it’s a planned vacation of doing nothing for a week but play games with your family…or planning a trip in another state, it’s a necessary part of life. Make Having Fun a habit for daily living!

SO here are some ideas for you to think about. Start making a list of places you would like to go or have not been locally. This could be restaurants, entertainment venues, etc. nearby. Places that are NEW to YOU.

How about places a little further out into nearby cities. Think about places up to an hours drive away that can be done in a day. Write these down as a separate list.

Lets start thinking further out. How about areas around you that are a couple hundred miles away. Far enough that you can stay a night or 2 and feel like you have completely left your local area. Write them down!

Now lets keep going. How about 500+ miles away. Where could you go that you have not been? Maybe in the next state or 2 over. Now your options of going places new to you are really opening up. Plan a week for exploring these places.

It might take a while if you really dig into your side of the country you live in…but why stop there? Keep expanding! Where would you like to go that is 1000 – 2000 miles away? The other side of your country? Into another country? Maybe it’s time to start exploring the idea of a trip overseas somewhere. Start writing these down!

There is an endless supply of new experiences, you just have to look. My family has done things in areas new to us that other locals have not done their whole lives. I have personally used TripAdvisor.com for a lot of planning of things to do. You don’t have to come up with crazy hard ideas like John Goddard (unless you want to) but you should get a little outside your comfort zone.

There are many more websites dedicated to local areas, you just have to find them and start exploring. Why should you do this you might ask? It is more beneficial than you might think. Our brains are literally stimulated when you do new things. When you explore somewhere or learn something you did not know about a place, it can ignite the creative side of your brain as you do these fun experiences.

Also, this type of behavior helps to break the ritualistic practices you have built in your life. Yes…they are called “Bad Habits”!

Most don’t realize it, but they have become slaves to daily habits whether they be good or bad.

Breaking up the monotony of daily routine allows your mind to go off autopilot for a while and be open to the world around you. Every person will have and want different types of experiences. It’s up to you to define what is best needed for you.

3. BUT…Stay Balanced!

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority,

it is time to pause and reflect.”

-Mark Twain

Fun should be a planned priority, but it is only part of the big picture! You cannot live a life without fun, BUT you can’t just have fun all day every day. Life is made up of little moments, time with family, building relationships, discovering new things, and work….yes work!

Everyone has to work. Some people work at jobs, some people are in school, and some people work for free as a Homemaker / Mother / Father / Etc. This never stops, and should never stop.

The world would stop turning if everyone stopped working and just stayed home all day doing nothing. I would go as far to say that we would all die in short period of time if the farmers of the world stopped working, if the water company stopped working, if the electric companies just turned off.

When you think about it…we all play a valuable part in this great world of ours, BUT not all people are in the best position they should be. Most people are working at jobs they don’t feel is the best fit for them. Most people are working at jobs they do not like out of necessity. Sometimes you will have to do things you don’t like, however the problem starts when you do not do anything to change it!

You have to plan a balanced life full of all this life has to offer. Want to find more meaningful work? Plan a transition into something else you would like to try and execute that plan. Need a vacation? Decide where you are going, how much it will cost, what day you will be there, and how you will pay for it.

We are all in a different season. A different section on the “Game of Life” board.

Find where you are at right now and go a different direction if you need to. What areas do you need to improve? What would make life better for you and your family? If you are too focused on one area of life, find out what other area of life needs to be better and start shifting your focus.

Are you doing what you believe you are supposed to be doing with your life? If not, it’s time to figure that out. Stop procrastinating because, life is too short to not be everything you can be right now in this moment. Once you have a balanced plan (including making fun a priority) then it’s time for the most important part.

4. and….ACTION!

Planning is pointless if you don’t take action on those plans. Your plans could be as small as a weekly grocery list, or as big as scaling a mountain in Swiss Alps. Either way will require actionable steps. 

Make “Taking Action” an unbreakable habit, and your life will absolutely change!

BUT before diving into steps to accomplish any goal you create, let’s talk about the idea of “now.” I mentioned before that time is short. Even if your lucky and live to be 100 years old, there is never a time better than RIGHT NOW to plan and take action.

You do not know what tomorrow brings. Only God knows your future (and if your anything like me, God has not told me exactly when death will come knocking). Since you are not able to see your future, you must fully understand the importance of being in this present moment.

Learn from your past, Hope for the future, but live in the NOW.

Any delay in taking action to better yourself will result in…Nothing! Your life will not improve, or grow, or be an example to others. Not starting to control your mind, your future, your life in new and exciting ways will leave you living a sub-par life compared to what you could be. Les Brown always reminds his audience that:

“I don’t know what you’re up against, I don’t know what you’re facing. But here’s what I do know: You’ve got something special, you’ve got greatness in you, and I know it’s possible that you can live your dream.”

-Les Brown

Everyone is unique and special in his or her own way. You have a gift to offer this world, and when you don’t push yourself to expose the gifts you have…you become a thief! God designed you, will you rob this world from seeing the true amazing “you” spring forth into the amazing person you really are?

Now is the time to reach forward and push yourself to your true and full potential, to become all you were meant to be. In order to push your mind to the limits edge you must learn to be an action oriented person. Now is the time to fulfill all your hopes and dreams. There will never be a better time than now to start that new project, lose that weight, or learn that language. Better yet, take action to plan some fun as pointed out earlier.

You get the point. It’s time to take action on your plans.

The world teaches that you must follow the crowd. That you must join the majority and conform to the society around you. I am in direct opposition to this type of thinking. Allowing your thoughts to be manipulated against your own judgment reduces your own personal power. It makes one think less of his or her abilities in this life, and drains the natural talents given to each of us. Remember, it was the crowd who told Pilate to Crucify Jesus!

“It is not worth an intelligent man’s time to be in the majority. By definition,

there are already enough people to do that.”

-G. H. Hardy

We are taught to follow orders instead of using creative thought. We are told how to dress by the fashion industry, told that financial success is following the path of 95% of the population instead of the 5% of the wealthy, told that statistically we are likely to become “x” or “y” with our lives based on our race/religion/tradition/etc, and many other majority rules.

This reduces the individual power of every person who believes what

others tell them are “musts” in life.

I am here now to tell you that life is yours for the creating! We all have different gifts and limits, but that is not for others to decide. You have to have learn and grow to find what those are, and make that decision yourself. That is God Given, and that is why habits are so important.

You have to refuse to give up, refuse to settle for less, refuse to give in to those around you, refuse to hear the complainers, refuse to accept what the world wants for you and accept what is possible by your God given talents.

-Start Playing the Game-

It’s time to start playing and winning your life game. I can’t tell you it’s going to be easy, but that is what life is all about. Find what needs to change, challenge yourself to become different, and start making it happen no matter how difficult.

We are all going to stop playing this game someday, so make the game fun, and make it count. Build habits that affect your life and those lives around you.

Don’t forget to sign up to download the free guide “Habitual Will” and leave comments below.

Here’s To Your Amazing Life,

Mister Jones