Yearly Archives: 2018

Gaming The System

Posted on by kgoodman

It’s a little embarrassing to talk about.  Well, maybe embarrassing isn’t the word. It’s one of those things that is both social accepted and socially awkward. Well, let me just get it out there. I play pokemon go. Well I ‘played’ pokemon go. I played since the day the app launched through about 3 weeks ago. It was an add on to my dog walk. I walk the dogs every day, and while I’m out on the walk I search for imaginary creatures and gather resources from all the pokestops… The game has been out for almost 2 years and I’ve played with a few gaps, a day or two here and there while traveling, for the entire period.

I know all the local pokestops and all the spots around my neighborhood where pokemon will appear. I’ve hatched many 10 kilometer eggs and I have many legendary creatures. But it’s all in my head, well and my phone… But is it?

So, about 3 weeks ago, my app glitched and my login failed. I haven’t logged into the app in over 6 months. It just stored my login. So I didn’t remember the password. So I couldn’t just log back in and start going again. Mind you, I have the password, it was just a pain to lookup. The effort involved in looking it up gave me pause.

I do really enjoy the game, but I’ve always had privacy concerns. There is a gaming company that now knows my patterns of walking over the last 2 years. I’m sure they can reach some conclusion about my use of the game and what it implies that would feel rather creepy. Recent Facebook revelations are already enough to handle. We all assumed they could be doing creepy things with our data, but the truth is spookier than the assumption. But I digress. That’s a topic for another article.

The interesting part for me, is what happened after I stopped playing. As a creature of habit, I still walk the dogs every day, I walk them on the same loop. I can go on auto-pilot. That’s my loop.

Interestingly, my 40 minute walk now takes 30 minutes without pokemon go. But that’s not the main story here.

I can still see the pokestops. I have played the game enough that I know where all the gyms and pokestops are. Specifically, there is a cemetery near my house and it has pokestops on every corner and a few gyms. They are virtual objects, they don’t exist in the real world. But now they do. I can see them. I know when I get to them and I can even visualize them as I walk by. My mind, through enough repetition, made them real.

Through the connection between geography and movement, the real world and virtual world have been bridged. I now see pokestops when I walk around.

So the question in my mind is, are they real? Did the game make them real? Or did I?

What else have I repeated enough in my mind to construct a reality? What do I believe because I gave it space in my head? What does this mean for my world view?

We all live on a series of constructed visions in our head. Beliefs that we reinforced by repetition. The same thought, the same words, swirling around in our head until they go from concept to concrete. We make our thoughts real.

Sometimes these manifested concepts help us, lift us up. Sometimes these thoughts break us down and undermine us.

The first step is awareness. Become aware that you make your reality and that your brain is a powerful tool for how you interpret the world. It is in fact the only tool for how you interpret the world. Everything you see in the real world is just a construct in your head. A translation of your senses into a mental experience.

With that in mind, you need to learn to game the system. You need to start with beliefs that will lift you up and repeat them. You need to repeat the words that will make you soar. You are mighty. You are beautiful. You are a blessing to the world.

It’s called ‘gaming the system’, where you identify a trick to success and exploit it. It’s common in a game to have a certain behavior that gives you an advantage. Sure, well thought out games tend to have more complicated exploits, but there are behaviors that more frequently result in success. Identifying the techniques that will help you succeed is ‘gaming the system’.

identify what you need to believe, to succeed, and make it your truth.

Namaste,

Kevin

You’re not as ____ as you think!

Posted on by kgoodman

So what did you think of?

You’re not as good as you think?

You’re not as bad as you think?

What other words popped up? Ugly? Short? Stupid? Smart? Loved? Hated?

It’s an interesting little test. I come up with my own words each time. Initially it feels like an exercise in what other people think of you… But upon further reflection, it’s just you and your thoughts going at that little blank space. So it’s really about what you think other people think about you. Or more to the point what you subconsciously struggle with.

For me, I worry that I’m not as smart as I think. Or sometimes I worry that I’m not as good a person as I think I am. An interesting aspect of this exercise is that your fill in the blank work always has a grain of truth and is usually dead wrong.

Meaning that, there is an aspect of soul reflection that comes out of this that should not be let go. You should process how your chosen adjective really overlays on your reality and world view.

Additionally, it is a perfect moment to be aware of  your own self judgement. And, for the most part, you can tell that voice to roll. Get away with your negative thoughts. I am freak-in awesome and you need to deal with it…

Yes, the voice in my head and I do have arguments occasionally. Luckily I very rarely show that to the outside world. That would be weird… Unless I write about it… Which could also come off as weird. Weird.

What was I saying?

Ah, yes. Self work. There is a value to self work. It both feeds into, and is fed by, self awareness. The first step to removing a thorn in your foot, is being aware a thorn is there. Nerves in your foot send pain signals to your brain that tells you something is wrong. You can ignore them, you can pretend they are not there. You can walk along barefoot and get more and more splinters, till the bottom of your foot is covered with little slivers of wood…

Our society encourages this when it comes to self work. We are encouraged to ignore the small voices in our soul that point out splinters. We are lead to believe statements like “Self work and self awareness are a product of conceit and being too self involved.” And like all statements that sound reasonable, there is a grain of truth. But the truth needs to lead to balance, not denial. You can’t, and shouldn’t, focus 100 percent on self.  Nor should you focus 100 percent of other. Life requires balance.

Our society appear to encourage imbalance. But that is merely a product of the focus on dramatic. News reports don’t tend to focus on the average, they seek out the sensational. Nobody would be drawn to the news if the reports had headlines like, “Another man came home from work today and spent time with his children”. “In Ohio today 14 children were bathed and put to bed after story time”. “Woman finds happiness in the little things and shares love with her friends”.

Self work is exceptional. Self work is vital. Self work will never make the headlines.

If you want to change the world, start with yourself. If you are a mess and you start by trying to change the world, you make the world a mess. Seek balance in self and know yourself. You will radiate balance and earned confidence to a world that desperately needs it.

Remember the work you do on self today seems boring. It can even be painful. But it is just and righteous and worthy of your time. You, are worthy of your time.

Namaste,

Kevin