how to restart the game of life in 24 hours

respawn. rebuild. reconnect. replay.

If you have your sh** figured out, please stop reading.

If you’re winning the video game of life without a hitch, go do something else.

And if you consider yourself a well-adjusted digital citizen in our consumerist, entertainment-based information economy, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

You can skip this one.

This is not for you.

Ok.

Now it’s just us. Now we can talk.

If you’re still here, I’m operating under the assumption that you need something of a change of pace. Maybe you’re burned out. Tired. Isolated in a little bubble of instant gratification.

Perhaps you’re overwhelmed with hyper-stimulating, algorithmically-targeted media that you didn’t consciously choose to consume.

Let’s call it what it is — you’re trapped in a dopamine hole.

This is not a fun place to be.

The happy chemicals in your brain are fried — you’ve pushed your own buttons too many times. At a certain point, it’s hard to feel anything at all.

What began as an attempt to just turn your brain off for a moment and escape the pressures of daily life in the most overwhelming era of human history has quickly spiraled into a frenzy of quick hit consumption.

You’re not alone in this. We’ve all been there. We’re the first generation of human beings to have constant access to stimulation. Our brains weren’t built for this. Our civilization wasn’t prepared for this. So here we are.

The worst part of this particular condition?

Your natural motivation to play the game of life simply isn’t there. There’s no intrinsic drive to start a new quest, campaign, or side mission. Your laundry remains unwashed. The kitchen isn’t getting any cleaner.

Hey. It’s OK.

You’re not a weak person for struggling with this. And as previously established, you’re certainly not alone. I wish you could see how many others are reading these words right now. We’re in this together.

You haven’t lost the game. Far from it.

You’re just stuck. And I don’t blame you. This is a hard level.

That’s why we’re going to press restart.

Step 0: Respawn

We have to take this from the top.

Now is not the time to figure your whole life out. Now is not the time for grand gestures or drastic measures. We have to retreat. Go back to square one. Start over.

You’ve hit a spiritual brick wall and you need to back up to get some perspective. And you need a good night’s sleep.

Let’s first create distance between you and the stimulation. Let’s turn off the noise. Whether your cheap dopamine drip is coming from your phone, a nicotine device, or some other substance altogether, we initiate our respawn process by shutting it down. Pushing it away. Taking a break. This might take a few tries.

But there will come a definitive moment where you can cross the threshold. Where you step back into a conscious state of intentionality and hit the PAUSE button.

Let it happen. Let the silence swallow you whole. Immediately you feel that absence of stimulation // pleasure // noise // entertainment // distraction. This might be difficult. Or it might be a breath of fresh air. Let it be what it needs to be. Keep breathing.

As you exhale, imagine you’re breathing out all the excess. Feel your brain settling back into a de-stimulated baseline with every breath. This is psychological digestion.

Don’t watch the clock. Take as much time as you need. This is a moment of true rest, giving your nervous system a chance to catch up with itself. And if you let it unfold naturally, something amazing happens.

Your body tells you what it needs next.

And then — just like any video game on TUTORIAL MODE, you simply follow the on-screen instructions to get to the next checkpoint.

You sit up. You breathe again. You put your feet on the floor. The ground beneath you is cold on your bare skin, but it feels nice. It feels different. You stand up. You notice that deep, all-consuming silence again. It’s starting to feel a little more comfortable.

You step outside of your room and fetch yourself a glass of water. Or you drink directly from the spout, tapping into your inner wildebeest. Even this small string of mechanical actions is starting to turn the tide for you. You’ve signaled to yourself that you’re moving in a new direction. Suddenly your body and brain are working together again. And it feels good.

Next — we need a moment of emotional catharsis.

The dopamine hole leaves its scars. And the only way through the pain it leaves behind is to go through it. We have to process what just happened.

You need a journal. Or a voice memo. Or a notes app. Something.

You’re going to perform an act of psychological journalism.

Tell yourself what happened. What are you emerging from? What was the dopamine hole for you? How did you get there? What were you running away from? When was the moment you became triggered and tumbled head over heels down into that prison of comfort? How did you begin to escape? How do you feel now?

You’ll notice a natural narrative arc form around the experience — however mundane, or un-heroic it may feel to you. By the end of this recording process, you’ll once again recognize yourself as the conscious player you are. You may not be winning right now, but you’re certainly in the game. You can feel it again.

It’s time to rest.

Give your body a quick stretch, then it’s lights out.

Respawn.

We have work to do tomorrow.

Step 1: Rebuild

Good morning sunshine. The earth says hello.

How do you feel?

Are you rested? Still a bit foggy from yesterday? Wherever you’re at, you’ve effectively just respawned at your last checkpoint and are prepared to take on the game of life again. So let’s do this.

Your mission for today: set up the infrastructure for a happy, well-balanced life.

I know that sounds like a tall order. But it’s actually a lot simpler than you realize. And it’s 100% within your range because it can be scaled UP or DOWN to your level.

We’re going to start with the basics. You are a human being with physical needs to satisfy.

Things like:

• Sleep

• Water

• Sunlight

• Movement

• Nourishment

• Social Connection

And Mission 1 is all about laying systems in place for you to get these needs satisfied. All of your attention is dedicated to the ADDITION of positive practices — not the SUBTRACTION of negative ones. This isn’t about cutting out bad habits. It’s about replacing them. Naturally. By focusing on what actually feels good.

And would you look at that? You’ve just woken up from (at least a partial) night of sleep. So you’re already winning. Nicely done.

Now take a step back and look at which of these areas needs attention next. Remember — your secret weapon here is that silence of de-stimulation. Sit in it again. Don’t watch, listen, or consume anything. Let your body tell you what it needs. The instructions present themselves to you if you can just turn down the volume of the world around you and listen. Please, tell me body. What do I need next?

Maybe you go for a walk around the block. Maybe you stretch your arms up to the sky and then down to the ground. Maybe you go through another journaling practice like last night. Maybe you have another glass of water. Maybe you start cleaning your living space to re-invigorate your environment.

This is the part where you feel it out for yourself. But you see what’s happening, right?

You’re intuitively constructing a routine that you actually want to do. You’re working in collaboration with your body n’ brain — not against them. You’re trusting that inner sense that tells you what you really need as a human being.

And as you feel it out, you write down what you’re doing. This helps turn instinctive practices into structured habits. That structure is absolutely crucial. This is not a game where you want to “wing it.” You need a plan for next time.

Write it all down. Crystallize your practices and let those feelings of confidence in yourself circle back to the top of your consciousness. You’re taking care of yourself again. Generating positive momentum in tiny, little tasks. It feels good. And it’s nothing short of heroic.

Stack these mini-missions on top of each other. Trust that inner voice and set up your immediate life to support your deep, human needs. Go grocery shopping. Stop by a bookstore to pick up something new to sink your attention into. Give yourself something to be excited about. No one said you can’t get little treats for yourself on the road to rebuilding. This is all part of it.

The most important point at this stage, after you’re back in motion, is to maintain the right balance of order and chaos. Yes, you need a plan. You need structure. But too much rigidity, however appealing it might be, only puts you at risk for overextending yourself and collapsing internally. You’ll become claustrophobic within your own constraints. And in that intense discomfort, you’ll swing right back to escapism and self-soothing.

Trust your intuition and give your body what it needs. Build that into an easy-to-follow plan for tomorrow. But give yourself room for adjustment on the fly. Don’t imprison yourself with rules in an attempt to punish yourself.

This is a process of self-care, balanced delicately between the powerful forces of structure and entropy.

Walk the tightrope.

Step 2: Reconnect

Congratulations.

You’re officially back on track.

Through a series of positive mini-missions, you’ve re-identified with a more natural version of yourself. You feel like a human again. You can breathe in the silence around you and actually notice what’s going on. You are here. You are here.

So I suppose now is a good time to remind you — you’re not in this alone.

While today’s mission has been SOLO, you’re playing a game with countless other conscious players — some of which know and deeply care for you.

It’s time to reconnect with the cooperation component of this game.

Meaningful relationships are one our most central sources of happiness as humans.

[ That sounds like a robot or Mark Zuckerberg wrote it. I promise I’m a real person. ]

As you pick up the pieces within your game and get back on track with a meaningful mission… as you once again confront the little adversaries of daily life and even work your way up to facing the dragons of your own psyche…

Don’t play by yourself.

Reach out to 1-3 people in your life. Digitally is fine.

Send a text of gratitude, appreciation, love. Good vibes. Whatever.

Ask a question. Reach out to the person you’ve been meaning to get back to.

Create as real of a connection moment as possible by sending a voice memo — let your real voice travel from your little rectangle to their’s. Or send a video. Start a FaceTime call. Make it real. You are both here in this game.

Even better, organize an in-person meeting.

“Hey, wanted to catch up with you. You up for a quick hike through the Andes Mountains?”

*** This is, of course, assuming you live along the Western coast of South America in the longest continental mountain range on the planet. (9000 km) Adjust your message accordingly. You get the idea. ***

Connect with your people. Or put yourself in a physical location where you can meet some new ones. This is a multi-player game and your journey is incomplete without them. Share your quest. You just might find that both of you are stuck on the same level.

Step 3: Replay

And here we are — nearing the end of this 24 hour reset process.

Checking back in, how are things feeling? Is this doable? Reasonable? Within range?

Pay attention to your mental and physical state. Audit yourself here. But no matter where you fall on the spectrum of well-being, recognize that simply engaging in these reset missions puts you back in the arena. Back in the driver’s seat of your conscious experience. Back into a state of intentionality. YOU’RE IN THE GAME. And in an open-world, multi-player, sandbox game with no hard-and-set instructions, just showing up is enough to constitute a WIN.

However the last 24 hours played out for you, the last step here is to play again. And then again. And then again. And then —

With each respawn, with each checkpoint, you get a little better at listening to that cellular intuition inside your body. You get better at trusting and following its biological instructions. And you become more connected with a meaningful way of living that beats cheap dopamine consumption 10 times out of 10.

So here you are.

Back in your room. By yourself. A differently charged, more connected version of you — but still you. You go through the Respawn Ritual again. You journal. You stretch. You breathe. In whatever order makes sense to you in your personal iteration of this game.

You set an alarm for a reasonable hour.

You turn the lights out.

You roll under the covers to await sleep like an old friend. You meet them halfway.

You play the game again tomorrow.

The question is:

What is your next mission?

thx 4 reading team.

ily

-josh

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