07 October 2013

Level Up

Source: tumblr

Last week-end, I have run 10 kilometers at the caritative run Odysséa in the Vincennes castle. It was a great achievement for me, as, after years of thinking "sports isn't for me", I started training in August 2012 with this objective in mind. This achievement made me think of how important growth is in our life equilibrium, and contentment.

First, let me introduce this idea with a simple parallel to the world of video games. In a certain genre called "Role Playing Game", players start with a level 1 beginner hero and "level up" through the game. As the hero solves enigmas, battles enemies and discovers new territories, he earns experience, improving various skills to become expert in his field and more efficient so we can finish the game.

And I believe it is the same in life: as we learn things, improve our skills, we grow, we "level up". It is easy to see in children. They go to school, learn to write and read, they play sports, learn new instruments, or dance, learn theater or whatever suits them.

But once we enter the adult age, many of us stop "growing". Ever since I finished school, I felt like me everyday life didn't really allow me to grow anymore. I stopped practising the arts I used to as a child (music, drawing, writing), I didn't get any new friends as I was busy with work, I didn't really take the time to learn new things after I finished school, and at some point I even stopped reading, trapped in the working routine.

And here is my theory: what if we needed to keep growing as a human being in order to be content and find meaning in life? When I managed to run these 10 kilometers yesterday, I felt a high sense of achievement and self satisfaction, which made me feel happy about myself and my life.

The four fields of growth

Thinking about this, I defined four different fileds in which we can "grow". I may forget some, let me know if you have more ideas in mind!

  • Physical growth: that's all the items around our body - sports, food, taking care of our body shape, looks, health
  • Mental/spiritual growth: that's all we learn, the knowledge and culture we discover about, knowing more about general culture, discovering the world, but also understand life and oneself better
  • Social growth: that's all the human relationship stuff - getting new friends, building a couple, maintaining family links, reconnecting with old friends...
  • Creative growth: that's all related to learning new skills, learning to make new things - it can be an artisanal craft, an art (drawing, writing, practising music...), anything that makes us more skilled at a particular thing

If you take a look at these items, except for the people who are lucky to work in a creative or craftsman job,  the regular get up-go to work-eat-sleep doesn't really allow for that unless we actively pursue them. I had lost touch with friends and my own sister in three years of work for example.

Keep leveling up!

When I started reasserting my life over two years ago, without really noticing it, I actually started devoting more time to growth again - I started reading again, all my wardrobe editing thing made me feel better about my body, I reconnected with friends and family, I started writing, drawing and playing the violin again... And I have never felt to content in my adult life.

But I think society doesn't really encourage us to grow, unless this involves an activity to pay for. Remember my post about airports being giant shopping malls instead of promoting culture? So here is my theory: I think we need to wake up from the daily routine, and find some ways to keep growing as adults.

Take a look at your life, what are you devoting your time to? Are some of these activities making you feel like you are growing? Out of the four elements above, we usually have some favourites - I know I've always been more on the mental and creative sides of things for example. Here are some everyday things that make me grow today, as an idea:

  • I play the violin regularly
  • I take the time to call my family and friends in the week-end (especially the ones who don't live in Paris)
  • I have started writing again, opened a site with all my writings and update my blog regularly
  • I go to the gym several times a week and set myself some sport challenges
  • I watch a lot of TED talks about various subjects and listen to science podcasts at the gym
  • I read books, watch films, play video games, go to museums and exhibits regularly
  • I like to travel and discover new cultures

If you feel some sort of insatisfaction in your life right now, might it be linked to the lack of "leveling up" activities? It is just a theory, but it actually works wonders with me. What do you think? What type of activities make you grow in your everyday life? What it is you wish you had more time to do?

22 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your level up! 10 km is fantastic! I love this post; I actually apply a similar game-related concept to my life, but I call it "experience points." I gave myself 5XP when I went out of my comfort zone and attended a book launch recently, for example. I'm happy to find I'm not the only person who thinks in this way!

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    1. Thanks! I happen to think in XP points sometimes in life too haha. If you like thinking that way, you may be interested in this TED talk by Jane McGonigal, in which she presents a "game" that can make us gain 10 years of life. I watched it again recently and the acutally has very similar areas of improvements as the ones I present above!

      http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_the_game_that_can_give_you_10_extra_years_of_life.html

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    2. Thanks! I'll watch that talk today; it looks interesting!

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  2. I absolutely agree, I think that a huge part of happiness is fostering an environment of growth. In fact, Gretchen talks about this a lot in her Happiness Project.

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    1. I have seen this tendency a lot in minimalist/happiness blogs and books indeed. they don't all call it the same but it's the idea of growth. Even Maslow's pyramid of needs puts "self actualization" at the top, so I'm not inventing anything here really. I just thought it was a nice thing to remember, as life and society doesn't push us to grow, I feel that we need to actively pursue it in adult life.

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  3. Congrats on 10 km :) I also started working on myself without really noticing maybe 2 years ago, but now I do it more consciously. I DECIDED to read even more, watch movies and expand my music taste. I DECIDED to improve my Spanish and to do yoga every day. I DECIDED to eat breakfast, replace one cup of coffee with tea and make smarter clothing purchases... I think the key is to conciously decide the older you get. We have less and less time, and there is no point at letting things happen spontaneously because they really won't anymore.

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    1. Thanks! And I totally agree with you, once we enter adult life, grow older and have more social and professional obligations, it is hard to keep growing unless we actively decide to do so. It's like taking care of a plant really, if you leave it like that, without water or sun, it will wither with time... I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one actively pursuing growth, congrats on your changes!

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  4. It's because there is no factor driving us any more like there was when we were young and you had your teachers pushing you all the way. And I got lazy. Setting up and putting together my blog was the most interesting thing I've done since having children - it was almost like I needed to see if the brain still worked and if I could piece something together. And it was so satisfying to get the first post written and then present it to the Hubs and saying "I did that - on my own".

    And well done on doing your 10k - this is one area I differ from you immensely - I do not like exercise. I was that girl who got pushed round the cross country course by the P.E. teacher.

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    1. Yes it is true, we make children learn, try on various kinds of sports and arts etc. But as we grow older, apart from earning money, nothing really forces us to take up any activity unless we decide to. And I can't being to imagine how it is once you have children. It's true that there is something satisfying in blogging, I enjoy your blog a lot!

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  5. I think you are wonderful in your reflectiveness and desire to grow. I have just finished reading The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner and one of the stated ways to live longer and healthier was to always strive for personal growth, learning new skills etc. So to see your post the day after was so timely! And huge congratulations on your 10km!

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    1. Thank you! And thanks for the book recommendation too, I never heard of it before, I looked it up and it sounds really interesting, I'll probably grab a copy myself :)

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  6. Just had a look at your tumblr for the first time. LOVE your curating style. Got a little lost in all that fall/autumn beauty. It has surely become my favourite season.

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    1. Thanks! I always wonder how Autumn is in other parts of the world. I know that in Australia it is not at the same time as us, but do you also have golden leaves, mushrooms and all the stuff, or is it only for European Autumns?

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    2. For the most part Australia's autumns are not as colourful on grand scales across the landscape like photos of Vermont USA etc. However, there are pockets of the country and indeed gardens/parks/farms where the golden, red and yellow leaves, mushrooms etc are. I would love to visit Vermont and other such areas where it takes over the whole landscape!

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  7. A very inspiring post! In the past two years I've been trying to "grow" as well -- it started when I took up a membership at a yoga studio in 2010 and I realised it was really fulfilling to learn something new. Recently, I signed for my very first online course on creating infographics and information visualisation, and although I have never been academically inclined, it feels great to "study" for the first time in a long time just because I want to learn something new, and not because I needed to earn a degree or qualification.

    Congrats on the 10k. Running is such a grind but it's so exhilarating when you finish. I like to bring running shoes on some trips because you experience a new city/place in a completely different way.

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    1. Thanks! I also noticed how I approach learning differently without the pressure of passing grades and getting degrees. It is very interesting and fulfilling to learn for the sake of learning new things.

      It is true that running in new environments makes one discover the place differently. I also bring my running gear wherever I travel. My early morning runs in Provence were one of my best memories of the summer!

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  8. Ah, what an interesting post!

    I am in a pretty continual state of learning - in the last few years I've moved to a new country, and then cross-country and then overseas, started learning a new language, worked a lot on the other languages I speak or try to speak, started grad school, gotten married, started meditating, etc., etc. I have moved a lot, and am always pushing myself well out of my comfort zone, it is almost a habit.

    I have noticed that I used to dedicate a lot more effort to creative pursuits. I do so less now and I miss it. I have recently started improving my cooking and I think that the missing creative exploration might have something to do with why I am excited about cooking.

    Congrats on your run!

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    1. Thanks, I'm glad to hear you liked it! It certainly sounds like you keep growing over the years, travel helps a lot with discovering new cultures and pushing oneself out of their comfort zone. Pursuing creative projects is more difficult because I feel it takes a lot of time, but it is very rewarding as there is a concrete result to see.

      Cooking can definitely be one of these creative fields - even though I'm far from being a chef, I have really started having fun in the kitchen once I was skilled enough to divert from the original recipe and experiment new things...

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  9. Petit passage en coup de vent ici (j'oublie pas ton blog, oh que non, j'ai au moins les 10 derniers articles en attente de commentaires... :p), parce que cet article résonne très fortement avec un autre site, Nerd Fitness. Je sais pas si tu connais, mais des articles comme ceux là http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/03/03/game-of-life/ et http://www.nerdfitness.com/epic-quest/ correspondent totalement au tient ! :)

    Bref, je peux pas prendre plus de temps pour commenter maintenant, mais c'est pour une bonne cause : gagner des points en socialisation à coup de fondues (bourguignonne/chocolat) et jeux de plateau avec des potes/collègues ! :D

    Et félicitations pour tes 10km, sacré étape ! \o/

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    1. Merci beaucoup pour cette reco, je vais jeter un oeil à ce site! C'est un phénomène très à la mode de tourner les challenges de la vie sous forme de jeu, en marketing on appelle ça la "gamification", gagner des niveaux, des badges en fonction de ce qu'on fait (un exemple typique est Nike + running) et c'est un motivateur très efficace!

      Bonne soirée fondues/jeux de plateau (probablement terminée maintenant), en voilà une combinaison intéressante...

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  10. So thoughtful and inspiring -- thank you! I've moved back to my hometown after years of being away. I'm finding it necessary to establish and fill out my life in all the ways you mentioned above. This post couldn't ring more true for me. It's a good reminder to live mindfully and actively. These days, I'm trying out new aerobics classes (!) to destress and be healthy. Never thought I'd like them but it's been kind of fun even if my coordination is *terrible* :)

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    1. Thank you, I'm glad you like it. It's actually very energizing to take new classes at adult age, discovering new things... Good luck on your aerobics class, it certainly sounds fun - and I'm sure it will help improve coordination ;)

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