Candy Crush Life

I am a small-time gamer, and I love to play puzzle games. Currently I have Candy Crush loaded on my phone. This is one of the most entertaining games in the world and quite addictive. I was sitting and playing one afternoon when I realised how much it mimics true life, and this is why:

1. The game's design-code is set:

However I want to, the only person who can change the game is the designer, King. We as the player has to play the game as it was designed, and however we try, we can't change a thing. I often find people who play the game of life, wanting their lives to be different. I myself have at times complained about what needed to be done, and had problems with the game. Understanding that the game is set, helps you to understand that you must learn to play, and you should stop complaining about the game.

As a religious person, I understand that "My King" has written the code of life. I sometimes do not understand the code or the why or the when, but the fact that He is in control of this game fills me with calmness. This acceptance is the start of inner peace. Sometimes we become so entangled in understanding the code, that we never play and never enjoy the game. The feeling that somebody is in control and that it is not just a random situation is the most exhilarating feeling. Furthermore, it takes away so much pressure from yourself, because you can now focus on the play and not the design.

2. It has different levels:

I am not entirely sure how many levels there are in total, but they all follow each other. Some are more difficult than others, but they are in essence the same. On some levels you need to clear all the jelly, on some you have to collect ingredients and on some you play against time. On each level you need to figure out how to do things, and as you progress, you learn which makes the next levels more manageable.

Life has certain levels too. You start of with learning how to walk, how to talk and how to eat on your own. Then you go to school and learn how to read and write and do maths. In High School they teach you more and more advanced stuff. If you are lucky you go to University where you choose the field that you want to study to earn an income for life. Then you go and start work, build a family, a home and a career. Then, if you are even more lucky, you retire and live out your days with children and grandchildren.

Within each of these "levels" there are obviously small little moves that you need to make to get through all of these levels. You need to learn how to interact with people, study, work your finances etc. Everything is interconnected and all moves leads to failure or success on a certain level. In the game it is much easier, because if you fail, you have the ability to try again and again, until your lives are spent. In the game of life we do not always have that ability, because you just have one life, one shot at the level, that obviously makes it more intense and stressful, but we will get to that.

3. It is played forward and backwards:

At any time in Candy Crush you can go back to any level and replay it. If have done this a few times, because there are easier levels that I can do with my eyes closed. I know that you might say "what is the point?" We are sometimes so focussed on the objective of the game, to finish all the levels, that it becomes stressful and you do not enjoy it any more. I am a great observant of the "Living in the Now", but we can not for one minute discard what we have done or not think about the future. Sometimes when we are in a "bad" space, it is a good thing to go back to a place where we have experienced some success. In my business I have had up's and down's, we all do. Going back in our minds to a "level" that showed us and told us that we were successful, or that happiness do exist, plays a major role in dealing with the negativity of the "now". I sometimes sit on a level for a week, and it feels "impossible" to do. So I go back to a level that I have had success on, and go an play that over and over again. This actually gives me confidence to tackle the hard level, and many times I just crack it.

When you are down and out in your sales-career, and you feel that nothing is happening, go back to a time of success. Go look back at your most successful month's statement, or a bank account stub that showed you that it is possible. I do understand that you can not go back and spend that money in the NOW, but it is powerful. Understanding and reminding you that you have had success in the past takes you to the next level in your head. "If I could have done it then, who says that I can't do it again now?"

Realistically, we as people tend to focus on our mistakes. We make them such a big part of our lives, but we forget to also focus on our past success. We tend to forget how hard we had to work for those successes and that we at times, before the breakthrough, also felt like you might be feeling now. There were times in the past that you also wanted to give up. Remind yourself about your successes, go play it over and over again in your mind, and you will be surprised on how that motivates you instantly to do the now.

4. It is supposed to be enjoyed:

Like many parents, I also see a generation of kids that are "game-enveloped". All they want to do all day long is play on their phones, consoles or computers. Trying to get them to focus on the important stuff and responsibilities is difficult. There are some parents who prohibit their children from playing games altogether, and although I understand why, I think it is cruel. Life is short and what is the purpose if it is all work and no play.

Ecclesiastes 2:24 teaches us: "There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink,
and to find enjoyment in their work. I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God."

We often think that we were placed on this earth to struggle and strife. I do not believe this as to be true. When I play my Candy Crush, sure, some levels are hard, and on some levels there are obstacles. But when you enjoy and see it is a game, even the obstacles become part of the game and the excitement. I think that if the whole game was straight forward, where would the excitement be.

Two changes in your thinking might be very helpful, 1. Understand that God has given you this life to enjoy and to have an amazing adventure and 2. See it as a game that can be enjoyed. Once you change this in your thinking, you address the obstacles you might face today with a happy heart. Challenges arise all around you, but this attitude might turn your sour face into one that accepts the obstacles as challenges.

5. Impossible vs Improbable:

We look at life, and we look at an obstacle and we think, "this is impossible". The use of the word "impossible" is not a scientific fact at all, just an observation and a feeling. Improbable has more of a scientific method behind it, whereby we can measure or calculate the probability of something. The more probable something is, the more we feel that it is possible.

Great people in the world of history showed us that the improbable can be questioned and tackled if we start believing in the possible. When I play my game, I might sit on a level that looks impossible, but in fact, knowing that it is only level 215 of about 1800 levels, I know that it is not improbable. Many people around the world would have already completed this level, so knowing that it is probable, motivates me that it can be done.

In life and sales, we tend to use phrases like: "Sales is hard", "Cold calling is difficult" and "People don't want to pay for insurance". What this does, is that we move into a place in our heads where we create a scenario of improbability, which de motivates us emotionally into impossibility. Again, when we look around us, we see many of our team members and other brokers who is successful, and who sell a policy per day. Like in Candy Crush, the fact that many have completed level 215, broke down the improbability and convince me of the possibility.

When you are confronted with an obstacle, ask yourself if the improbability of you overcoming it is indeed true in fact or not. You can either break down the improbability, or you can add to it. Look around and see if it has indeed been overcome by somebody else or not. If it has never been, then OK you might start believing that it is not possible. But if it has, then it is not impossible any more.

When you are convinced that it is not improbable, you believe that it might be possible, and then you move into a space of finding a way. We can not feel that things are possible, if we truly in our hearts and heads keep on thinking that it is improbable. You need to break down the improbability barrier before you can believe that things are possible.

You can break down this barrier in many ways. I have seen in my life that my spirituality and belief in God overrides improbability, and therefore I believe that any thing is possible, although it might reveal itself as a miracle which do not coincide with the probability of something happening. I like to use the idea of "chatting-up" a beautiful girl as an example.

When you see a beautiful woman, and you feel attracted to her, you would actually want to talk to her. Now, firstly, it is improbable that she is going to come and talk to you first. That brings stress, and you look at her and think that she is a model, and you might think that she is out of your league (obviously based on your experience or thought). You might see all the guys in the bar talking to her with either success or not. You might think that you are inferior and you will not have success. Well, it is a fact that you will not go and talk to her.

But, taking all of these "probabilities" into account, you start thinking. She is only a person, the same a me. Maybe she is tired of all these guys that only objectify her. Maybe you are exactly the person that she has been looking for her whole life, and if you do not speak to her, she might be unhappy for the rest of her life. You might also think to give her the choice, and what is the worst that could happen, she can only say NO. Where are you now on the "possibility scale" as opposed to were you were in the previous paragraph? You can almost see your grandchildren in her eyes, can't you?

Break down the idea of the obstacles in front of you and the improbability of overcoming them, and you have a possible change of actually winning and finishing the level.

"GO AND HAVE AN AMAZING AND PLAYFULL WEEK"