I had already plugged this topic into a template for today's blog, it was something I thought of talking about yesterday. And then this morning, I recorded a podcast with my buddy, Rizwan, and he mentioned this exact same sentiment. "Just Keep Levelling Up".
For those of you that don't understand what that means, there's a popular genre of video games called RPGS (Role Playing Games). Many RPGS involve controlling characters, and increasing their skill and strength throughout the game by playing and repeating actions. Those repetitive actions (fighting, training, whatever), cause their skill levels to increase. So when the character gets enough experience at something, it "levels up", and gets stronger. I love the idea of applying that term to everyday life.
I think the idea of "levelling up" can be used to help get better at almost anything. I apply it to comedy, exercise, podcasting, blogging; pretty well everything I do. Whenever I get on stage, I look at it as a chance to gain experience that I can put toward "levelling up". If you play these types of games at all, you know that your character doesn't just instantly reach level 99 after playing for 5 minutes. You start at level 1, and it takes a lot of work to reach a high level of skill. Things that your character found impossible when he was level 3 will seem easy when he's put in a bunch of work and reached level 33. I look at stand up that way. 20 minutes used to seem like an impossibly long time to be on stage, and now it's a walk in the park. Because I've grinded it out, and levelled up.
Your goal everyday should be to try and level up. You won't gain a level every single day, but just put yourself in a position to gain a little more experience. Bank that experience, and before you know it, you'll grow as a person. If you want to start lifting weights, write down how much weight you can lift. Say you can bench 80 pounds when you start. You won't be able to bench 150 pounds on day 2. But keep gradually gaining experience, and tracking your progress. Before you know it, lifting more than 80 pounds will seem like a breeze. Because you put in the work, and have enough experience to level up.
The reason I think a lot of people enjoy RPGs is because you can see your character getting stronger. It's a great feeling to put in work, and have a visual indicator of your progress. Video games just speed that process up. In real life, levelling up can take a long time. But keep track of your results in whatever you're trying to get better at. Write things down (your weight, how much stage time you get, how far you can run, whatever), and look back on it every couple of months. You'll be able to see your progress, and it'll serve as motivation to keep grinding. I don't know if anything motivates me as much as looking at something that I considered challenging and knowing that it's easy now. Just keep pounding away at it, getting better every day.
Keep levelling up.
Adam
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