We're five months into 2015, y'all. How are those New Years' Resolutions going? Shitty? "What resolutions?" I'm the same way, folks. If I had as much drive as I did imagination, I would pretty much be the second most perfect person in the world, right after Tom Hiddleston. But I lack willpower and I'm a procrastinator. Heck, even this blog post is about four years in the making because I just...didn't wanna.
Why do we have such a hard time sticking to plans? Well, I think a large part of it is the fact that we make big, general goals and then don't have a clue where to start. We want to lose weight, read more, be more responsible, take more risks, all of which are great goals to have, but if you don't have your stepping stones, how are you going to get across the pond?
I'm all about self-improvement projects, even though I have a hell of a time sticking to them. I love the idea of making my body, mind, and soul all-around better. You may have guessed by my blog title, but I'm also a geek, and my mind tends to twist things into geek terms. So, naturally, my brain went "Self-improvement! LEVEL UP!"
I ran with it. I created a program that takes different facets of my life and organizes them based on the six standard character statistics you will find in most role-playing games: STR(ength), DEX(terity), CON(stitution), INT(elligence), WIS(dom), and CHA(risma). It took a bit of tweaking, since I don't have any intention of wielding a melee weapon or casting arcane magic anytime soon, but I managed to apply each of those statistics to different aspects of myself that I want to improve.
If you're unfamiliar with how RPG's work and how this program will work, here's a breakdown:
In RPG's, you gain experience points (EXP) by completing quests, winning battles, etc. Your EXP starts at level one as a whole, and rises as you complete your tasks; in my project, the maximum level is 20. My EXP chart will work as follows:
EXP Required per Skill
Level 01 - 02: 10 EXP
Level 03 - 04: 20 EXP
Level 05 - 06: 30 EXP
Level 07 - 08: 40 EXP
Level 09 - 10: 50 EXP
Level 11 - 15: 75 EXP
Level 16 - 20: 100 EXP
Each skill, STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, and CHA, must reach the amount listed above to reach the next level. For example, to reach level one (you start at zero, which doesn't happen in game, this is one of the tweaks I mentioned), you have to earn 10 EXP in each skill. To reach level 2, you need an additional 10 EXP in each skill for a grand total of 20 EXP each. Level 3 requires 20 more EXP, for a total of 40, and so on and so on. Once you reach Level 20, you'll have at LEAST 1175 EXP in each skill.
All six levels must reach the EXP goal in order to level up. This is to keep your self-improvement target balanced. You shouldn't spend all your time focused on improving your body and ignoring your mind; having 500 EXP in STR doesn't matter much when you have 10 EXP in WIS. Remember, this project is designed to make the best overall you.
What I love about this project is that you design it. I give you the skeleton, but you mold the body. You get to decide what your body and mind can handle. Want to get in shape but hate the gym? Make goals involving less conventional exercise, such as pole-dancing classes, hiking, even getting out to play with your kids for an hour in the park. Want to bulk up your literacy points? Make a one-book goal for a month if you're not an avid reader, or go for a book or two a week if you are. I'm planning on compiling various lists to help everyone along in creating their projects, and if you find yourself stuck, feel free to leave a comment and I can offer suggestions!
As well as choosing your activities and goals, you will choose how many points they each get. You can "cheat" and make reading a short book worth ten points, but you're really only cheating yourself. Easier tasks should be worth no more than half a point, whereas those that are a bit more challenging can be worth up to two, maybe three points. I have also personally given myself "big" goals in each skill set worth five to twenty points, which are hard to attain goals like paying off big debts, running a 5k, or learning to play violin.
Below you'll find links to explanations of the skills in the project, both in game and as they apply to real life, as well as an example to follow: my own personal Level Up Project page!
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