Rob Dial frames life as a video game where hardships are levels that strengthen you. He uses the pandemic as an example and suggests concrete practices: slow down, meditate, spend time with family, pick up hobbies like painting or guitar. The shift from fear to resilience starts with choosing who you want to become.
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I like to look at my life as if I'm just basically a video game character. It's kind of like you get different challenges and as you go through these challenges, you become better and you up level your character. And today we're going to be talking about the game of life that you live. And the way that I like to look at my life just personally as I am, is I like to look at my life as if I'm just basically a video game character, right? And everything that happens to me is meant to either help me get even better or to hold me in place or maybe even to pull me back down. And that's the way that I tend to live my life and see challenges and see everything that happens up in the world and that comes into my life. And so as I'm talking about this and what immediately I think about when I go through this is I go, okay, you know, every single little thing that's happened to me has made me who I am. And even the worst things in my life, the things that I didn't want to go through, made me stronger. As corny and cliche and overused as the phrase is, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger is actually true. And the reason why the phrase still exists is because of how true it is. And so as I look at my life and I look back and I say, yeah, my father's death, it wasn't an amazing time to go through when I was 15 years old, but it completely, completely changed my life, it changed my trajectory, it changed my mindset, it changed my urgency to do something good inside of the world. And so what you could say is that terrible thing that happened to me actually up leveled my character, right? So if you've ever played a video game, it's kind of like you get different challenges and as you go through these challenges, you become better and you grow and you up level your character. And so when I think about the current moment that we're in with the coronavirus with, you know, obviously the terrible things that are happening, the people that are getting sick and the people that are dying, the way that I kind of think of it in my head is what am I supposed to learn from this? In this game that I call life? This is coming in perfectly for me as it's coming in perfectly for you in each individual person at the perfect moment. And it's showing us, man, there's some things I really need to think about. So I'm in the game of life. I'm on level whatever 47 coronavirus. And I'm thinking, okay, I'm on this level. I'm on the coronavirus level. What can I learn from this? What is it showing me? Well, it's showing me that maybe I work too much. Maybe I should slow down. What else is it showing me? Oh, it's showing me that maybe I should spend more time with my loved ones. Maybe I should FaceTime my mom more often. You know, I FaceTime my mom quite a few more times where I'm like, damn, we should do this more often. And my mom listens podcast. So, Debbie, make sure you FaceTime me. I don't have to be the first person to reach out, right? So the thing that you have to think about is, what am I learning through this? I'm learning to slow down. I'm learning to meditate more. I'm learning to appreciate boredom, right? Boredom, we see, is this huge, terrible thing that we need to try to avoid. I'm learning to appreciate it and go, you know what? It is kind of nice just to sit back in silence, drink my coffee, and just enjoy life, huh? What else is it trying to teach me? Maybe it's trying to teach me that my job that I've relied on for the past seven years that I hate. This isn't me personally. This is me just giving an example of somebody who's out there because I don't have a job that I hate. I don't even have a job. I work for myself, right? So. But. So somebody's out there. Like, that job that I've had, that the only reason why I have it is because it pays the bills. And maybe I've been sitting around and I've kind of been a zombie for a while. I've just kind of been going through the motions. You know, I went to college because I thought I was supposed to go to college. I got a job because I thought I was supposed to get a job. I was making some money. And then I got those golden pellets, as we call them, where they just continued. I kept continuing to get golden pellets all of the time, every single two weeks. And I just got used to it, and I've turned into a zombie. Maybe this thing is supposed to wake me up and show me that I really need to truly live my life. Hey, if you're enjoying this video, do me a favor and hit that, like, button down below. It helps with the YouTube algorithm so that more people can see this message because it helps us get it out organically. So hit that, like Button and I appreciate you. So what is this showing me? What am I supposed to learn from this virus? Maybe it's showing me that I need to take better care of my body. Maybe I've been taking more vitamins and minerals and eating better than I ever have during this time. And it's showing me, hey, this is how you're supposed to always be. Maybe I've done more yoga because I heard that when you get the coronavirus, you get kind of sore. So maybe I've been doing more yoga and maybe I can use this coronavirus to show me that I need to continue to keep improving. What is it showing me throughout this process? What is it trying to change in me? What is it trying to strengthen in me? Maybe it's trying to strengthen my mindset, where if I hear somebody say something and I normally get really fearful, maybe it's trying to change my mindset and say, hey, listen, stay on track. You're going to get through this. You're going to be happy, you're going to be healthy, you're going to be able to pay your bills. Your family is going to get stronger through this. What is it trying to show you about your family? Maybe the way that you hang around your kids, the things that you say around your kids. Maybe you've realized that when you spend more time with your children, you have a lot shorter temper than you thought that you did with them. What is that supposed to show you? What is it supposed to strengthen? Are you supposed to change your health? Are you supposed to change your mindset? Are you supposed to change your fitness? Are you supposed to change your relationships? Are you supposed to change your spirituality? Maybe you need to meditate more, right? We're so. Go, go, go, go, go all the time. Maybe this thing is supposed to show us to. To chill out, to just exist, to simply be. Maybe to read a few more books instead of scrolling through Instagram, maybe to watch a YouTube video on how to, you know, play guitar. Instead of just scrolling through Instagram and Facebook and commenting back and forth or sharing other fearful things. What is it supposed to show me? What am I supposed to learn? Maybe I'm supposed to pick up some hobbies from this, huh? You know, there's been hobbies that I've been wanting to do for so long. Maybe I can get. Yeah, you know what? Maybe I can get Amazon to deliver a paint set to me because I've been wanting to learn how to paint for a really long time. Now's the time, right? Amazon can deliver that paint Set to you. It could be at your house in two days. You can go onto YouTube, you can type in how to paint, whatever type of painting style it is. And maybe what you do is you just go spend the next couple days outside painting, learning how to paint, having your computer there showing you the tutorials. What else is it trying to show me? Well, you know, I bought that guitar six years ago. I took lessons for three weeks. Maybe it's showing me that I should pick up some new hobbies. I really want to learn how to play guitar. Maybe it's showing me that I should take some singing lessons online. The cool thing about singing lessons, you can find somebody on Zoom and they could do Zoom calls with you right now. Maybe I'll practice my singing. What else is it? Maybe I'll practice my meditating. Maybe I'll practice my yoga. What can I do so that when this ends? Because I promise you will eventually end and the level will be over. The coronavirus level. Do you want to come out on the other side of the coronavirus level? Stronger mindset, mentally, physically, relationship wise? Or do you want to feel like you've taken a step back because you were in fear the whole time of what's going to happen? What if I die? What if everyone that I know dies and you spent the entire time when you we're supposed to learn how to chill and learn how to down regulate your nervous system and breathe and simply exist? Maybe if you don't do that and you're in fear the whole time, you actually took a step back when the coronavirus level ends. So see everything in your life as a game. It's all a game to strengthen you, to get you better. It's all something we're supposed to learn and grow from. But the question that you have to ask yourself is, am I learning and growing from this coronavirus challenge or any challenge in my life? Or am I letting it challenge me to the point where I'm getting weaker from it? Hey, thanks so much for watching this video. If you want to learn even more about mastering your mind, click right here and watch this video as well. Who are you and who do you want to become? Is it the person that you've always been? Is that who you are? Or do you want to step into a new version of yourself? You can make that decision right now.
