‘Level Up Your Life’ - A Nerd’s View On The Guide To Life
It’s been awhile since I’ve written a post - and hope everyone’s being safe in these incredibly challenging times. You’d think work would be slowing down, but I definitely feel differently. My core job requires me to plan and run events, and in light of this situation - we’ve had to turn every event into different possible virtual platforms, so it ended being extra crunch time for me.
Anyway, I digress.
Today I wanted to share my thoughts about a book that I had read recently called ‘Level Up Your Life’ by Steve Kamb. I finished it in about 3 days and absolutely loved it! I’ve always loved reading books about self-improvement and life - and this one definitely put it in into a’Nerd’s Perspective’. And yes, I’m an innate Nerd at heart for sure - so most of the points mentioned definitely resonated with me in some sort of way! I thought it was incredibly creative of the author to combine these niches to write a book to help guide people! He’s also the author of Nerdfitness.com - which is SO cool. Super envious and I wish that I had thought of this in the first place! So just going to share the main pointers I’ve taken away from this book in a few posts intermittently over time.
Let’s start with the first takeaway from this book for this post :)
Takeaway #1: UNDERPANTS GNOMES
Apparently, there is this episode of Southpark which features these little gnomes - and their business plan was to collect underpants to gain profit. Have a quick watch of the 34 second video below to get some context!
So Phase 1 requires these little buggers to tirelessly collect underpants - and Phase 3 concludes with Profit! When asked ‘ So what’s Phase 2?’ - the worker Gnomes have absolutely no idea what Phase 2 require & then *Screen goes blank*. The focus is then entirely on Phase 3 - which is profit.
And of course, this analogy relates very much to us, who are playing the game of life.
Phase 1 - Collecting Underpants
Collecting or Consuming Knowledge
Many of us spend our time consuming information and knowledge via books, podcasts, social media platforms and of course the internet. We aim to best equip ourselves with this information, often (over) preparing ourselves, and making mental notes on what we want to do - and this is GREAT! However if we only focus on this phase, all we’ll be left with us a huge pile of underpants!
Phase 3 - Profit
What you hope to accomplish / your end goal
We all start with a certain end goal in mind when we want to achieve something, and Phase 3 signifies just that : your end goal! Your chiseled body, all the money you can have in the world, or even getting that promotion you’ve always wanted so badly!
So What Exactly Is Phase 2?!
Phase 2 of the Gnomes great business plan actually entails putting the business plan into action. What will the Gnomes actually use the underpants for?! How are they going to utilise the underpants to make profit? They honestly wouldn’t know until they take action.
People who are action oriented usually dominate phase 2 - and this is always what I truly believe in and always advice people to do. You just gotta get it done - no matter how you ‘feel’ about it. Sit yourself down and try to complete the task at hand, no matter how minute!
Most people get either bored or terrified by this phase, because yes, it can be terrifying, but this phase is all about learning, trying, failing and repeating - it’s about finding new ways to succeed! Eventually, you’re definitely gonna get stronger and better, and things are gonna get way easier to accomplish once you get some experience under your belt!
Take me for example, before I started my youtube journey, I researched the internet for the best camera recommendations, mics, lights etc… and that delayed me getting my first video out - when that’s actually the best place to start! A little bit of research is fine, but the most important step was just to start!
Rule of Thumb:
10% of your time should be spent on Phase 1 (Resarching / Preparing)
90% of your time should be spend on Phase 2 (Taking Action)
Follow this, and you’ll eventually get to Phase 3 :) (Results will come!)
Conclusion
As the author succinctly puts it - Boromir from Lord Of The Rings was wrong when he said:
Because well, you kind have to just do it. That’s what Sam and Frodo and the fellowship tried to do anyway, they formed the fellowship to travel there - how else would you have approached it?
Resources
‘Level Up Your Life’ - Steve Kamb ( Book | Depends on your reading speed)
‘A Business Plan’ - South Park ( Youtube | 34 second clip)
‘Lord of The Rings’ - J. R. R. Tolkien ( Book / Movie | 3H28mins
** Watch the movie, book was WAY too descriptive and I got bored reading it)**
