I - The Cake


​

​

I - The Cake

​

Hello Reader,
​
Welcome to the first edition of the The Game of Life.
​
I hope you enjoyed the welcome email previously sent out.
​
Now as our journey begins together I want to tell you about the exact moment I began this game of life.
​
And for this we need to travel back in time to the 31st May 2021, 21:03.

I had never been a big fan of birthdays. I like to reflect rather than celebrate. Reflect on what I had achieved and the blessings I had received.

As the evening approached my sister brought me a cake.

An excellent choice for someone who played an average of 10 hours Xbox a day.

And that's when it started.
​
As I looked down on Tesco's finest, I truly realised I was 25 years old.

A quarter century ago I was born. A quarter century I had been on this planet.

Whatever your belief on what is young and what is old, numbers do not lie.

My teens were long gone.

I was beginning my late 20's fearful of becoming 30.

I had no prospects and no direction.

My existence itself is a miracle, and up until this date I had made a mockery of my life.

I don’t think it was any coincidence it was my sister who got me this cake. The person who is closest to me in this life. It sparked something.

I continued to sit and stare.

Flashbacks to all the childhood memories of getting up at 1am for several hours to play video games before sneaking back upstairs and pretending I had been asleep.

Getting in from school and the first sound I’d hear would be my Xbox turning on.

Getting in from college and immediately diving in Lord of the Rings Online.

Skipping college to stay at home and continue playing LOTRO.
​
Thinking I’d do myself some good and leave my Xbox at home when going to university, only to laugh at the numerous other addictions I indulged in. And then I brought it back up the next year anyway...

So I continued to stare, looking at this cake.
​
LOTRO had 18 months of game time alone. 18 months...? What... what about Apex? That sat at around 140 days. What about Fifa… What about Runescape… What about Star Wars Battlefront… What about Age of Empires… What about… Every other game flew through my mind.

My quick maths in this situation came to the realisation I had spent roughly 25% of my life playing video games. 6-7 years was an estimate that was not far off without knowing the specific number, but that was all I needed to realise. It could have been more… MORE.
​
What was I doing?

In and out of jobs I hated with my sole focus on virtual achievements in a fantasy land. Days… if not weeks, to get a badge on a screen.

Was it worth being one of the highest ranked in LOTRO?

Was it worth getting a 10k kill Wraith?

Was it.... I won't indulge anymore, you all get the picture.

I will not sit in regret, but something had to change. I winced a little pain as I thought about what I could have achieved. I was a boy in a grown man's body.

So I took my phone out and took a picture. I sent it to my friends from the online world.

“Today is the day I retire my brothers. I will never forget the memories, but it’s time to move on.”

“Bro, we are going to miss you”

“Casual is okay man, don’t stop all together”

“What are you going to do?”

All natural responses. I needed to replace the habit, and I decided to continue with a “game” of sorts. Chess? That's a good one.

But more importantly, I needed to make money. I needed to take control and accountability in my life. I had a list of dreams pushed to the dustiest shelf in my mind to indulge a life of addiction.

“How will you make money?” I was asked.

“I heard about affiliate marketing on Twitter. I’ll start there” I said.

“You’ll be back bro” they said.

Not this time.

This cake had caused a shift.

Today was May 31st 2021.

Tomorrow was June 1st 2021.
​
You can all see for yourself when it was created and the success it's achieved me now:
​

​

Thank you for reading.
​
If you enjoyed this email, a reply would be great. I want to connect with as many subscribers as possible.

And until Edition II, keep conquering this game of life.

​

Thomas


Side note:
​
Today, I have started the challenge "75 Hard" with a group of friends.
​
You can keep up with daily accountability on Twitter, and I will write about my experiences of it in the future.
​
If you have completed 75 Hard in the past or want to join me on this journey don't hesitate to get in touch.
​
Here is what's involved every day:


The Game of Life

Former NPC turned entrepreneur. Join hundreds of readers where each newsletter is a quest towards conquering personal growth, business success, and finding purpose in every moment.

Read more from The Game of Life

Edition 47 XLVII - Shibuya Crossing Grand rising Reader. It's been a while since my last newsletter. I'm travelling around Asia, working hard, meeting good people, making life memories, training every day, just ... playing the game of life. And while I enjoy writing, it made me realise, some things needed to be dropped, in order to make the most of where I am in the world. And the newsletter? I only write it when I want too. I don't want to sell to you. I hope the odd newsletter you get of me...

Roman Numerals - XLVI

Edition 46 XLVI - 95% Holiday Grand rising Reader. Recently, I have been travelling, and with more travelling coming up, things are not slowing down for me. Business is at max capacity, and I'm thinking hard about the next level up while in a digital nomad era. Having said that, wherever I am, I am normally working as well. That was until a recent trip to Estepona, Spain. I decided for a "cleaner" break. I took the week off from two clients. I have never done this until now. With one client,...

Roman Numerals - XLV (45)

Edition 45 XLV - Searching for Bobby Fischer Grand rising Reader. The other night, I was incredibly sore from kickboxing (a fantastic feeling) and decided to sit down and watch a film. Classically, we can get stung by indecision, but we all know how to handle that: XXXV - The Greatest Skill You Can Learn Nevertheless, I already had one choice in mind. "Searching for Bobby Fischer" Now Bobby Fischer, if you haven't heard of him, is one of the greatest chess players in history - if not the...