I’m sure we’ve all played a few video games in our lives and here’s an apt analogy to follow.
I’ll use Call of Duty as an example cause you’ve either played it yourself, or have kids who have played it and probably heard them talk or even get frustrated of an update coming out and things getting “Nerfed”
Nerfed basically just means changes that are always bad.
Say you have a favourite gun you play with and you usually find yourself destroying everyone that comes into your path. Then one day they send out an update and that same gun has now been nerfed.
It may do less damage per bullet, shoot slower or just recoil more and shake all over the place.
Which in turn just makes you either get killed more and not kill as much as you used.
To say it’s rage inducing is an understatement, but hey. It’s game and that’s what developers do to keep things interesting and also make people focus on other weapons.
Now when it comes to life. We all get nerfed a lot.
We have accidents as kids. We break our bones. Our hearts get broken or a loved one dies.
There are big and small nerfs in this life. Some will kick us to the curb rapidly and sometimes we do end up laying face down on the curb a little longer than we should.
It’s okay. It’s necessary and it’s also there for growth, hindsight and whatever other self-help guru might be peddling at the time.
As a writer, I have many a piece rejected. I’ve had entire sales messages bomb and not make a client any return on their investment with me.
Does it suck? Yes.
But there’s always a lesson to take from it.
Whether or not it’s video game. Your personal life, or business. We get knocked down and I give you full permission to mope around and feel sorry for yourself. Only for 24 hours though. No more no less.
Buy all the cake. Eat all of the pizza. Watch re-runs of Friends.
Then once that’s over. Sit up. Pull up yo’ pants or whatever bits of clothing you usually clobber on.
Then get to work. Reflect. Plan and go out and execute.
There will be many nerfs in life as we go. It happens but working on it as you go forward.
That right there. Is the way to set yourself free and grow into the person you deserve to be.
Stephen Walker.
P.S. I don’t have any interesting books I can point you towards with this type of subject matter in hand. Yet here’s a compilation of my unofficial mentor Jim Rohn and what he talks about when it comes to you being in control.
Check it out and let me know what you think.