How I made my life a video game 

I recently started labeling my daily to do list "sidequests" and it has somehow helped me be more productive

I usually hit quicksave before going to job interviews. Works every time!

Damn this video is incredible, just got round to watching it from my watch later haha

sweating in apex: ❌ sweating in the gym: ✔

1.Get clearer objectives (and write them down) 2. Reduce difficulty (set smaller goals to accomplish the big goals) 3.Gameify resistance/ discomfort 4. Embrace risk 5. Reflect on the awards that life has to offer

I don't know what's different about this channel compared to other self help channels, but he's always able to come up with ideas I can actually relate to and advice I can actually execute in real life

"When you overcome resistance, you absorb it's power" I think I found my meditation mantra.

"Rewards in life are hidden behind discomfort pay-walls", such an insightful and oddly-true concept!

If I grinded in real life as hard as I did in borderlands 2 to get legendaries, I’d be a millionaire by now

The only thing I don't like about the "real life" game I'm playing, is that if I'm not continuously using my skills, I forget them.

I wasted 3 years of my school life slacking off. But ever since i found your channel i have changed a lot. Thanks to your words they always have a huge impact on me. I cant thank you enough!

I've been using this mindset on and off for probably almost 10 years and your video is the best description of the problems and useful solutions to lifestyle gamification I've ever seen!

Bro "by overcoming the resistance, you gain the resistance's power" IS THE MOST MOTIVATING THING IVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE LIKE WOW NOTHING LIKE A OL' PROVERB SOUNDIN' THING TO GET YOU GOIN'

My personal trainer had told me "Resolve yourself to already be at your target weight." He gave me all of the tools, a quest log and an end goal. It's been pretty easy with those processes.

Not gonna lie...I needed this. I really, really did. I am currently on my third year of college, studying something I personally believe I do not really wish to pursue that much, but am also on an academical situation which got me away from keeping the opportunity to essentially seek opportunities in a way that was viable. From thinking "I finally made it...I'm finally here, after all the work.." I ended at feeling as if I was at the verge of losing it all. My family's faith in me, my "happy" and extroverted behavior, my academic "ranking"...essentially everything I had been working for ever since youth. And for the very first time in my life, in this specific situation, I felt...essentially...powerless. Alone. Regretful. I felt an indescribable amount of pain that would never leave. That emotion is still there, however, recently I've come to realize I cannot give up, nor stop moving forward, seeking that sentiment of tranquility and stillness (in a good sense, of course). This video...oddly enough, sort of helped to the point where I'm tearing up XD. I don't know how to say this, I...guess I just really needed to hear this. I do not know this channel, nor you as a person, but...I thank you for this. I just subscribed simply because this was great advice. And most certainly something I needed to hear. I wish you well, and I now leave you be. Of course, at this point I bet you already went camping XDXD but I still hope things went well and that they are still going well. Have a good day, or night..or...afternoon...and thank you.

I’ve been stuck for awhile now in life, aimless, not getting anything done and just doing the bare minimum, thanks for your thoughts man. It’s always refreshing/helpful to get someone else’s perspective on things! :)

I've always found looking at life as a videogame with missions and side quests helped me keep a good amount of levelheadedness. Sometimes I just wish there was a HUD we could see through our own eyes telling us what to do to progress with the story.

“When you overcome resistance, you absorb its power. The greater the resistance, the greater the power.” 🔥

I've watched this video three times now trying to understand how you made it so eloquent. This video has helped inspired me to try again at gamifying my life and it has greatly improved my standard of living. Thank you for being a part of that for me.

I like how candid this guy is. He takes his natural tendencies to make common mistakes and just kind of writes it into the script in a way that feels genuine and is even a little entertaining.

There’s always something to learn from a video game

When you speed run your morning routine and get a sub 15 min bathroom

Your videos have helped me reach over $200,000 in stocks by age 23! Thanks Better Ideas . Keep the videos coming. 👍🏽

"Life is more difficult than a video game" Dark Souls: "Hold my beer"

I still can't believe you are only 23 dude. You definitely have more wisdom and direction then most people twice your age. Inspiring and sad, as I'm twice your age and learning a shit ton form you. Thanks buddy and you will still change plenty of lives for the better 👍

I thought this video would be a guy walking around with virtual reality glasses collecting power ups on the sidewalk… but instead I was told I’m in a state of decay. This went south real quick

It's funny that we always notice the specifically detailed goals in a game and how well organized in a sequence they are but never think about applying that same structure to our plans. Yet it is not a brand new idea it feels so important and useful when analizing it in the video 😄

This is a really good video for me. I have several autoimmune diseases and it’s always been so hard to leave my comfort zone. Video games are much easier and less painful for me than doing more physical things (walking, exercise etc), but thinking of them like power-ups like you mentioned is very cool and motivational. I’m going to rewatch this when I hit another wall in life, but this really motivated me to challenge my comfort zone. Thank you for making it!

I made a Quest List on my phone for daily, weekly and main quest categories. I was able to check off my "Purchase a Home" main quest last year. It feels so satisfying!

If life allowed for 3rd person perspective, I swear I'd be much more inclined to treat life like a game. The ability to disassociate yourself from the games we play allow us to make decisions that purely benefit us in that moment or down the line. The always first person perspective makes things so personal and forces us to "be the player" at all times trapping us in the emotional and mental struggles that ultimately prevent us from making the best decisions to succeed.

As someone who has been a hardcore gamer my whole life, this really hit home for me. I've asked myself so many times why do games appeal to me so much. Trying to back off in favor of real life leveling up has been a real struggle. Often trading one distraction for another. Thanks for this.

I've always been telling my friends that I'm in my own open-world-exploration game. There's so much to see and do.

Most people in the self help world hate on video games, I found this video refreshing! The difficult part of life cannot be understated. However, I totally agree on the part with rewards. Even something as simple as losing weight can be unbelievably rewarding. Great video Joey!

10:43 Get Clearer Objectives 11:38 Reducing the Difficulty 13:03 "When you overcome resistance, you absorb its power." 15:17 Gamify Discomfort, Embrace Risk 15:50 Be Present and Reflect

This is the type of videos that can really open someone's eyes. You really did a great job at explaining how video games connected in life. Keep walking your own path in peace, bro. Subscribed.

I had this video on a open tab for a week, so glad I've watched it now, so incredible! Plus there's some strong, really strong phrases that I had to keep with me! "When you overcome resistance, you absorb its power. And the greater the resistance, the greater the power."

As a (future :D) game designer what I can add is that games are also a lot better at giving you feedback, telling you immediately that you just did good or that you just made a mistake. I think maybe that's why having a todo list where you cross-off or tick-off small tasks can help you be more productive, because in a sense, it's replicating the instant feedback videogames give you.

The other day I was growing stuff in minecraft, now I'm growing food in my actual backyard. Going for "grew tomatoes" achievement.

Ive watched 2 vids and youve already prepared me for adulthood better than my 15 years of school

Not only is your content really great and helpful, I also love your humor. I chuckled a few times :) Keep doing what you are doing, you`re creating something truly valuable.

Him: Video games are extremely easy Me: *flashbacks* to GTA Vice City helicopter mission

seeing Better Ideas run like a videogame character at the beggining made me laugh so hard

Man, I feel like you're a perfect example of what consistency looks like, I remember when you had that video about 'the power of habit' (or maybe it was just in the video) and now your channel is huge!!! Super cool, a lot of inspiration, its simple, clear, and fun, looks like I'll be defining some quests. Thanks for the reminder 🙋‍♂️

This is so refreshing to hear and it makes me feel good knowing I'm not the only individual that thinks like this. I applied this mentality with my calisthenics journey and it made it that much fun every I see new things I can do, I see that as an achievement unlocked. 🙏🏼

Life is basically Minecraft in hardcore mode. Sometimes easy, sometimes hard, but ultimately very cruel

"Video games have better clarity of objectives." Souls games : "really??"

Thank you so much for the hard work that you put into these videos. It has really helped me out man!!

this video editing and directing is off the charts and way underrated

Love this video. I actually started thinking of life as a game some years ago and everything been better since, career, romance, mental and physical health, you name it! What worked for me was eliminating the thought of failing and switched it with "Hey I'm just respawning", get back up and try again with a different approach because in the end the only thing we achieve by being passive is failing but we can actually win if we go for it, stay positive and confident in our moves while sticking to our goals.

About the "practice fifteen minutes" or "write 100 words," you'll probably end up doing more than that, because it's so little, and you'll get into the swing of doing something. But even if you only do the goal, you'll still be winning.

"Realise that by not taking risks in life, you’re not saving yourself from pain. All you’re doing is trading away the acute discomfort of action for the slow-burning, longer-lasting decay of inaction where things like despair and regret blossom." 🔥🔥🔥 Fantastic stuff!

Hey, thanks for this. The resistance powerups was what I needed to hear today ❤️

Salute to everyone watching this from their bed ✌🏽

“Wow, very inspiring” *goes on to play a game*

I just have to say... I LOVE the format of your content, love the vibes and everything! Learned so much from your content, truly inspiring... Keep it up :D

I really needed this video, thank you. Ive been procrastinating studying for my real estate exam and have just been gaming instead. This has given me more motivation to finish 😁

This also relates to watching TV. While watching Netflix the other day, I was getting frustrated with a character thinking that he just needed to say/do XYZ and the situation would resolve itself. The next day I found myself in almost that exact same scenario and felt silly for not seeing what was so obvious to me before. Since then I've tried to observe myself from a third-person's perspective as if someone is watching a movie of my life and it's really helped a lot

"Getting a sqaud wipe in game pales in comparison to..." Getting a squad wipe irl?

Dang mate, I really needed this video. Thank you very much for opening my eyes and finally showing me another perception

the resistance powerup bit was eyeopening! great video

"You need to be *bald* and courageous."

3:40 Better Ideas: The Game looks pretty good. Guess i'm buying the new PS6 now.

It's incredible that every single analogy in this video are the ones I told myself when I wasn't having fun. I've known that I've always wanted to be a metal musician, so I really embrace the idea of 'you are not destined to decay'. The one time I jumped off an 85ft cliff was the best feeling in the world. My entire mindeset had turned into overcoming risk after that. I always compared my life after college to my maxed runescape character as well. "I can FINALLY play the game". Love the video

the "emotionally excited" part got me good. Actually let out a good chuckle. Thanks homie :D

wonderfully explained, Thank you

Channel of yours is really something that I enjoy watching. Really good topics and entertaining to watch, and then also can see that you are pretty relaxed and stable and do yourself things you are talking about. Like controlling dopamine for excample.

I’ve been approaching my life like this for a while now! Thanks for making a video about it!

I treat every work project as a raid: 1. Get to know your teammates and test the waters to identify synergies 2. Adjust and fill in the gaps appropriately 3. Progress for objectives; document milestones 4. Receive and share the lewt Video games are far more educational than school in my honest opinion.

The key in being a real life character is to start out as: Level 1 thief, then branch out into level 1 hacker. Increasing your endurance stat every morning through walks/gym is highly recommended, too.

that really resonated with me. Thank you for sharing! internalized alot of things after finishing your video.

thanks for this brother, it’s been quite awhile since life has been going my way. been taking notes🤝

Me who risks my mental health every match of LoL: I'm somewhat of a risktaker myself

The production on this video is incredible!! felt like watching a movie..

You inspire me to make my own personal app with a stat overview, a "quest" list aka a to-do list and a reward system. I wanna give myself rewards to make things more enjoyable. This desire to go on an adventure, with a group, being individual and every team member has a certain skill and personality, that completes the group and helps to get to new places, defeat enemies and solve problems. I love thinking about that, so making an app for that would be a nice way to start with development, with improving my life and myself, with getting my self-hatred away from me and with bracing this desire of creating something which will push my will to live (I need that rn honestly lol) and my will to do everything I ever wanted. Thank you for this video!

interesting... I love the concept and for many I believe this approach actually works. I worked with a lot of people that get overwhelmed by the objectives. Especially if they see through the whole progress of the "game". It would be really cool to develop a method that shows people 1 objective at a time. But not the great picture. At least in Hungary where I'm from people tend to get really overwhelmed by greater vision. But this method really works well for leader type of people I believe. Who can see the greater vision and is not overwhelmed by it. Amazing Video!!!

I've been using Habitica where you can actually create a character and level up as you complete habits and other tasks that you set for yourself. Their slogan is literally "Gamify your life." Chat with other people, join "guilds" of different types of ways to make your real-life better, and battle monsters (with others in the party you join or create) as you complete your tasks. It's almost like D&D without rolling dice. Your attacks depend on how many of your tasks were completed that day. Another way to add video games to real life 😁

"I'm going camping to let the worries of life f*** off for a bit" = I subscribed instantly.

I found your channel yesterday and you make videos on the subjects I wonder about in my head, thank you so much for your inspiration, hope you'll keep making content!

Well this is my first video of this channel, and to be honest, I believe it's a life changing one as well. So thanks bro, for such a great video! Certainly subscribed and recommended to everyone who wanna change their lives!

One thing I've learnt from video games is that if you don't encounter enemies, you're going in the wrong direction. :) Great video btw. :D

This guy has changed my mindset and life completely

I had this cross my mind one day out of nowhere too! Games have become so common in life, gaming that is, I suspect many have considered this, but it's nice seeing someone putting it into action.

I’m grateful for this video, thank you man!

Life is an RPG Game I thought I was the only one who did this… It makes life much more enjoyable, not as depressing and it makes life interesting (for me at least) Thanks for a great video bro! 🔥

So the essence of the video is spend more time in real life than in virtual/ non real worlds and brake down your life/career into small steps. And just do the things you find discomforting.

I find myself smiling ear to ear at your vids. So fucking creative constantly, and such great knowledge. Always great.

I've been developing an intuitive way to portray this effectively for everyone towards the goals they want. I think I'm going to do the video series I've been wanting to for years now.

Fml this was probably one of the most eye-opening videos I’ve ever watched. Thanks for this, Joey. I mean, as a hardcore gamer for over 15 years, I’ve definitely heard of the concept of gameifying life to make it tolerable or easier. But the way you explained the concepts makes it so easy to even just execute. This is on the level of Mark Manson, James Clear-esque insight. 👏🏽 Turning my Reminders app (which I recently started incorporating into my life) into a video game quest log as I write this!!

As someone whos been neglecting my life for the past few months by playing an unhealthy amount of video games, I needed this video today.

I love this concept. In fact, video games are the representation of what is going in the real world. It used to be stories and many other things, but now there are many ways to live out those stories. Taking this approach makes you think a little more strategically. Good video 👍

Thank you for this. I needed it. I’m glad it was the first one to pop up when I searched.

one of my most memorable times playing The Sims 3 was my wife and I had retired, so I started an affair with our nanny and send my wife on the balcony and removed the door with the editor. simple times

Thank you for this video. Really needed this as I fall into a deep rut.

So well explained. Such a great analogy! Thanks!

One of the best videos I have seen in a while...and I watch a lot of RU-vid! Congrats!

Most video games target our evolutionary programming "better" than the modern context... they do many of the small things totally right. Slow change? Yup. Direct feedback? Yup. Multimodal? Yup. And so many more... They are often designed to match what our ancestors craved

Not even in my wildest dreams would I've imagined a brunette Johnny Sins would be the funniest and most uplifting RU-vidr I've ever seen, but here we are.

this is the best video I've seen on RU-vid in my entire life. GOOD job

Really well thought out and relatable video, keep it up!

"A feeling of calm and peacefulness and tranquility..." "And I know for a fact that's a feeling video games can't give me" Ironically enough, Breath of the Wild is my favorite video game because I think it gives me the closest approximation to this feeling.