When I was a kid, I played Super Mario Bros on Nintendo’s NES.
I played it for half an hour and then died in level 48373 at some hard spot.
You had to begin from the start. Not start of level 48373. Start of level 1.
Played another half an hour, just to die at the exact same spot again.
What did I get taught?
Resilience.
To try and try again until I finally overcome the obstacle and win. Each boss at the end of the level was a challenge on its own.
Games prior to the NES were even harder.
What are kids getting taught by games nowadays?
You continue from the same spot you just died at. As often as you need to.
Today the easy modes are so easy, you can’t even die and lose all your items anymore. You just ‘continue’.
If it gets any harder you quit and play something ‘easier’. Your hard disk is full of games.
Always on the hunt for some quick pleasure. Never putting in the (hard) work to reap the fruits.
Some don’t even play themselves anymore, they just watch playthroughs of others. Can it become any more strange?
In the past, when someone said he played through a game, that meant something.
This goes through nearly all areas of society nowadays. Everything needs to be easy, accessible, without resistance.
This makes us weak.
Like in fitness, where there’s no resistance, there’s no growth.
In a world where everybody is striving for easy pleasure, for the next shot of cheap dopamine, you have to find your own challenges, your own Super Mario Bros.
Society won’t provide you with that anymore.
Things were you say ‘This isn’t enough, I have to and can do better’.
One last area where there’s no easy cheat code available is business.
In the gym, there are pills available. Everywhere there’s some cheat code available.
Even if guru’s want to tell you otherwise for selling you their courses and programs…
You can’t cheat yourself to a successful business.
It’s the ultimate training ground for your resilience.
Resilience, which will help you in any area of your life.