“Lessons learned in games have a greater impact than lessons learned any other way.” — Richard Garfield, inventor of the game Magic: The Gathering. 

First there was self-help, and now there is self-gamification. 

Self-gamification is not the same as gamification, although, as the name suggests, the former is based on the latter. 

“Gamification” has slowly become a buzz word. However, most people are confused when they hear it. They recognize the “game” part, but not the word in its entirety. 

When I talk about self-gamification, my audience is even more confused. 

So let’s start with gamification and what it means. 

According to one of the top influencers in gamification, Dr. Zac Fitz-Walter (one of the first Ph.D. holders in gamification and author of the popular website GamificationGeek.com), “The most popular definition of gamification is ‘The use of game design elements in non-game contexts.’” 

Following on from this therefore, 

“self-gamification” is the application of game-design elements to one’s own life. 

You could also say that self-gamification is a gameful self-help approach. 

I felt the need to coin this new term for gamifying one’s life when I realized through self-observation that there is more at stake here than just learning from games and game design. At the end of my second continuous year of self-gamification I considered why it was working so well and found I had been applying three established approaches together. 

These were: 

1. Instantaneous transformation: arguably the most straightforward way of living in the moment, which is an anthropological approach. Developed by award-winning authors Ariel and Shya Kane, they suggest that we each study ourselves, those around us, and the circumstances we are in, the same way that an anthropologist would do - without judgement. 

2. Kaizen: this I believe is identical to the new more modern term “micro-progressing”. One of the most popular interpretations of Kaizen is continuous improvement, and it is a philosophy and method by which set goals can be achieved by making small, effortless steps. 

3. And finally, gamification itself: that is the application of game design principles to every-day life. 

After extensive research online I couldn’t find anyone else using the word “self-gamification”. 

Nor could I find any articles or material on gamifying one’s life written by another non-gamer (i.e. someone who doesn’t play games, in particular video games, on a regular basis). 

As I researched more into what gamification was, I discovered that it addressed specific and separate activities or aspects of one’s life. Jane McGonigal used gamification during her recovery from a serious concussion. Gamification is used in medicine, and by many companies in other areas, to improve interaction with their customers. It is widely used in education and e-learning areas, as well as commerce. See some more on that in the chapter “6. Examples.” 

However, I could not find any books addressing turning your whole life into a game, or an approach that would allow gamifying any project or activity of choice. Nor have I encountered information on how to gamify the juggling of multiple projects, activities, and commitments. 

So, the idea behind self-gamification is that you can gamify everything in your life or anything you want. Moreover, you design your own game, depending on how you treat a specific activity in your thoughts and behavior. 

I hope the above explanation gives you some idea of what I mean by self-gamification, and why I decided to write this book. 

But the question remains, “Why should we turn our lives into a game? Is it about having fun?” 

Yes, it is about having fun. About being excited by anything that comes your way and enjoying the adventure called life. As you will see later, fun is a brilliant tool when you gamify your life. Fun is a parameter to measure your success, as well as a must for achieving it. The more fun you have with the task at hand the more successful you will be at it. 

But there is also something else. When you see your life and all the projects and activities you pursue, want to do, or think you have to do, as games, then the drama, that seriousness you needed to succeed, falls away. It is easier and less frightening to do your best in games than it is in real life, isn’t it? If what you do is just a game, then the stakes are not as high as you initially might have thought, are they? 

In most cases, they aren’t. Some projects or activities can be life-changing or even life-saving, but they don’t have to carry the burden of either guilt (for not attending to them enough), or blame (that if it weren’t for them, the people around you or certain circumstances, then you would be a better person or have a better life). 

If you see your life, projects, and activities like games, which you design yourself, you realize that you have control. That by playing continuously and adjusting your game plan for each round, you can practice both the game design and playing it. So that moving from one level of the game to another ceases to feel like being pushed by life in the direction you think you don’t want to take, and instead, you dive into the adventure of your life games and enjoy it. 

There is one more reason, and it probably isn’t the last. Any game has a feedback system with one of various types of keeping score. By giving yourself points, or badges, or magic treasures or other non-material rewards for your efforts, you can document your progress in multiple projects in a fun way. And by doing so you will have a more reliable record of your achievements than your tired or fretful mind might otherwise suggest to you at the end of a long day.