The Game Plan
As is often the case when we find ourselves face-to-face with the New Year, it’s a great time for reflection and introspection.
We often ask questions like: How did last year go? Did I accomplish what I wanted? Am I better or worse off than the year before? What changes should I make to accomplish my goals this year? What personal improvements should I aim for?
Some people have a practice of assigning a word for each year. This provides a sense of focus as far as what the year should be about or what sort of attitude they should adopt toward it. Is it a year of courage and pressing further than before? A year of trusting and letting go? A year of reaching out and making new connections? A year of gratitude and rest?
Whatever sort of year you hope to have, it’s useful to make some sort of game-plan.
Speaking of which, I’m sure you’re well aware of my love for tabletop games (both playing and designing them).
One experience that is often the case when beginning a new game is the feeling of being overwhelmed. You look over the board filled with sections and symbols that can look busier than a mini factory. And then there’s all sorts of cards and chips and little wooden blocks of various shapes and colors laying about in piles.
Trying to take it all in, you begin to despair of ever being able to grasp such a complex system. But, as the game gets explained, one step at a time, you learn what you can do on a turn, what the symbology means, and what the conditions are for victory. Everything starts to fall into place.
Time and again, after I’ve taught people a new game, I hear them say, “this looked really complicated at first, but it’s not that bad once you start playing it.”
Once you’ve played many different games, you do still get that initial feeling of being overwhelmed by all the new and unfamiliar stuff, but you learn to set that panic aside. You begin to trust that it’s all there for a good reason and it’ll make sense soon enough.
Life (specifically starting out planning for a new year) can be much the same. The year is full of unknowns and the steps to your desired outcome can seem unclear and complex. But, one turn at a time, you set goals and make progress, hopefully leading to victory.
Maybe you didn’t quite get there last year. One great thing about games is you can play them over and over. You can reevaluate your bad moves in the past and make better ones this time.
So, what does “winning” look like for you this year? What moves can you make this week—or even today—to get you one step closer?
Why not start with a plan, even the simplest one is much better than no plan at all.
And, just as important, how can you plan to have some creative fun in the process?
