Hey friends,
Quick thing before we get started: My CEO coach, Eric Partaker, has just launched his new CEO Accelerator, where I’ll also be a guest speaker. The first-ever cohort starts on October 1st, 2024 so if you’re an entrepreneur, founder, or CEO looking to grow, make sure you check it out here: https://ericpartaker.com/the-ceo-accelerator (this isn’t a paid promotion or anything like that, I just love Eric and his stuff).
Anyway, this week I wanted to share some notes on my experience getting back into World of Warcraft. The PC game was a huge part of my life between the ages of 14 and 17 – during that time, I clocked in about 180 days of playtime on a Warlock and Paladin. This averages about three hours a day, and I remember my time playing WoW as some of the most exhilarating moments of my life, especially when playing with friends (mostly during Wrath & Cataclysm, for the few of you that’ll mean anything to lol).
But then, when I went to university, life got in the way, and I stopped making time to play. Every time a new expansion was released every few years, I’d dabble with it for a few weeks, but I always felt a nagging sense that it was a bit empty and pointless, entertainment for the sake of entertainment…
So I’d stop playing, and focus on “investing” my time and energy into things that would be “better” – like friendships, my side-business, my YouTube channel, trying to actually pass my exams etc.
To be clear, I think this was a Very Good Thing (for me). I’ve never once thought “damn I worked too hard on my side projects at university, I wish I’d played more video games or watched more TV”. If anything, it’s “damn I’m soo glad I spent the time at university working on useful things (eg: business, YouTube) because now I’m able to live the life of my dreams, whereas if I’d spent that time playing video games instead, I might be in a very different place…”.
The same thing happened when I graduated in 2018, and for those two years (2018-2020) while working as a doctor, I’d “invest” my evenings and weekends into continuing to build the business and grow my YouTube channel. Video game, TV and movie recommendations would come and go, and I’d mostly ignore them all for the sake of continuing to work on the side hustles.
It helped that I always found ways to enjoy the “work”, so I didn’t really feel like I was missing anything. I was having fun, and I was building the vehicle that would ultimately help me quit my day job, and live life on terms not dictated by a hospital rota coordinator.
A few weeks ago, I caught wind of the fact that the new WoW expansion (”The War Within”) was being released. This was my thought process:
- Ooh it might be fun to get back into WoW
- Nahhh come on, there are so many better things we could do with our time
- Like what?
- Well, we could work on the business, we could read, we could get better at guitar…
- We work enough on the business. What’s really the difference between reading a fiction book / playing guitar vs playing World of Warcraft?
- I dunno, reading a book is more… intellectually stimulating? And playing guitar helps develop a skill which we then have for life
- But what’s ultimately the point of a hobby like reading fiction and/or playing guitar?
- Hmm… the point of hobbies (and in some ways, the point to life itself) is to enjoy the passage of time…
- So then shall we download Wow and experiment with enjoying the passage of time while gaming?
- Go on then
A journaling prompt I often think about is: “If I knew I was going to die in 2 years, what would that change about how I spend my time?”.
There’s the usual stuff in response to that of course – spend less time working, more time hanging out with friends and family. But whenever I ask myself this, another answer comes up: “I’d spend more time playing video games”. Why? Because they’re fun. They don’t have any “point” beyond that. And there’s something nice about that.
I’m not sure if this shift in perspective is due to being 30 years old, being married, or having moved past a phase where everything needed to have a reason or a personal development goal.
I used to see video games as a “waste of time” because they didn’t lead to anything. Now, I see them as a good use of time precisely because they don’t lead to anything. The only goal in playing a video game is to enjoy the experience itself and the passage of time.
In a way, it’s similar to reading fiction. Reading fiction doesn’t really contribute anything tangible. Sure, you could argue that it promotes personal development by broadening horizons etc, but ultimately, it serves as a form of entertainment designed purely for enjoyment. And that’s great.
Have a great week!
Ali xx
