Attending a birthday party with my son taught me a valuable perspective on how to rig this game of life. This particular party was a mix of bouncy rooms and playing in the arcade – they had some classic games so I was pretty pumped.
One “game” there that drives me crazy is the claw machine. I say “game” because it’s really just a rip-off. Kids are enticed by the “awesome” prizes stacked up inside and us dads are left to hope the kids get lucky.
How many of you out there have looked like this with your little one:
Here’s how this plays out roughly 99% of the time:
- You put your quarter (or dollar these days – WTF) in the machine.
- You navigate to the perfect spot.
- The excitement builds.
- You hit the button and there goes the claw.
- It descends on your coveted prize and you’re convinced it’s yours.
- The claw hits the prize only to make a weak-ass attempt at grabbing it – more of a tickle than a grab if you ask me.
- The prize slides through and back up goes the claw.
- You’re left with nothing but disappointment about the outcome, some questions about your approach, and a bummed-out kid ready to make another deposit and try again.
Something hit me with this visit to the arcade. YOUR LIFE is the claw machine but with a catch. YOU are the arcade owner who can access and open up the machine. This allows you two very important privileges:
- You can stack any prizes you want in it.
- You can tighten the grabber to guarantee no more weak-ass attempts at grabbing the prizes.
Let’s make this a little more practical.
The Prizes
An arcade loads its claw machine with all kinds of “prizes,” from stuffed animals to little basketballs to try and entice as many as possible. But now we’re talking about your life so YOU get to decide the prizes. What exactly are you seeking?
- Health
- Wealth
- Wisdom
These are general areas but get specific and translate your desires into prizes.
- Ex, I want a better relationship with my son.
Some may call these goals, but prizes sound more exciting don’t they? Spend some time reflecting on what you want and document it wherever works best for you. Now let’s talk about how to earn the prizes.
The Tools
As we know, the claw machine is rigged to snipe dollars from excited kids and their poor parents who know what’s about to happen. But this crap isn’t going to happen in your arcade. Your arcade is where the game is rigged to WIN. To rig it, you can’t just identify what you want (the prizes), you need to know how to get them.
The key here is to NOT overcomplicate it. The tools you need include:
Strong Daily Habits
- Diet
- Rest
- Exercise
- Positive environment (family, friends, colleagues)
- Space clearing (meditation, reflection, solitude)
- Positive intake (books, podcasts, music, X)
- Positive release (writing, recording, sharing, engaging)
Game Plan
- Create a phased project plan (requirements, design, testing, implementation)
- Determine milestones (current state/target state, timeframe, stakeholders)
- Determine actionable tasks to achieve milestones
Accountability
- Identify accountability partner(s) to support you and keep you honest on your path
- Execute and measure
These are the tools you will use to rig your claw machine and grab the prizes you covet the most. A clear understanding of both the PRIZES and TOOLS is essential for you to rig the game of life.
If you don’t invest time in identifying your prizes, your claw will never be able to locate them.
If you don’t invest time in using the proper tools, your claw will be too weak to pick them up.
Take Action
An Exercise
Here’s a simple exercise to get you going.
- Set aside 10 minutes today to sit quietly by yourself.
- Close your eyes and visualize walking into your personal arcade – think of some cool name for it, of course.
- Walk into the back room of your arcade and find the coolest prizes back there (your goals).
- Load them up in your arms, head over to the claw machine, and dump them all in there.
- Now head to the back room again and find the tools you need to tighten up the claw on your machine (habits, game plan, accountability).
- Head back to the main room, open up the machine and get to work.
- Before long, you’ll be ready to deploy your claw and grab the things you need most in your life.
Your Arcade Partner
As noted above, finding an accountability partner(s) is essential to your lasting success. Reach out to me directly by hitting the contact link in the top right or emailing oneinspireddad@gmail.com to get practical and discuss how you can rig the game of life. Together we can create a personalized plan to identify and achieve your goals.
Going it alone may work in the short-term, but finding the right partner to help you build and maintain your arcade will lead to lasting success.
