Gamification: Progress with Self-Improvement

Are you tired of feeling stuck in a monotonous routine, just going through the motions without any sense of progression or fulfillment? Join me as we explore the common trap of stagnation in both academic and professional settings and discover a powerful antidote: gamification.

Many people often fall into the trap of just getting by. From a student's perspective, this could mean just memorizing information to pass exams, only being interested in the bare minimum, and failing to pursue other means of progression. In the business world, employees often find themselves working to chase only what’s in front of them. The problem is that life becomes dull, and people stop learning new things. Why is it so many of us fall into this stagnant state of life?

I experienced this a little bit, and went on a quest to combat this issue, eventually stumbling upon gamification. Gamification is a great way to bring joy back into life and start progressing again!

What Is Gamification/Why Is It Helpful?

Gamification is the “application of typical elements of game playing to other areas of activity”. Many of us can relate to these elements; consisting of point scoring, competition, etc.

The objective of this is to make progress in life fun and interesting, hopefully increasing the amount of effort we put into our work and lives!

If we look back at our student example, gamification could allow a student to get more out of learning. Making a system that gives “rewards” for doing more work, or reading more of a necessary chapter. It can even go as far as progressing in typing speed as a goal. But this raises the question: How do I implement this into my life?

Example Implementation

One way you can implement gamification is with a skill tree. A skill tree can be seen in many games and is essentially a way of progressing/leveling up a character in a game. Certain skills can not be accessed until more basic ones are completed, essentially making you go on your journey of learning the things you want in life and progressing.

One of the skill trees I encountered regularly while growing up was in Borderlands! Pictured below is an example of how each time when my character leveled up I got 1 point to spend and starting from the top down I would learn new skills and slowly open up more skills to learn.

The game automatically tracks your “experience” and your character levels up when so much experience is gained. A skill tree will allow you to learn new skills at a constant, consistent rate. This will avoid the stagnant state of life that people fall into, and give you satisfaction as you learn and advance through the tree.

How can we make one for ourselves?

Below is an example of how you can take any skill you want to improve and break it down into smaller steps. Ultimately, you can take this even further by using a tracker on excel or habit, where you can get the feeling of "leveling up" just like in a game! This gives you a clear path to increasing your knowledge and skills in life, and allows the tracking of progress in a fun sustainable way!

While in this article, we focused on the skill tree aspect of gamification, as mentioned the idea goes much further. In the future, I would love to cover other aspects such as the trackers, which can make life feel like a game!

Eager to escape the cycle of stagnation and unlock your full potential for growth and success? Embrace the power of gamification as a catalyst for change and start your journey towards a more vibrant and fulfilling life today.