Logging Off and Finding Balance
The world is evolving in a way that it is now incredibly easy to share your story with others. On any social media platform, we typically view other’s successes. Whether it is a new job, a new car, or a new watch, we witness it all. Comparing these observations to my current situation has created a desire within me to change my life.
This Is My Story
Ever since I was in Elementary School, computers have always been apart of my life. I would wake up early on Saturdays and Sundays, start up my family’s Gateway computer, and put either my Age of Mythology or Roller Coaster Tycoon CD-ROM inside. I would go into spreadsheets and create lists to track the different type of train cars or Pokémon cards I collected. I enjoyed the experiences that computers provided me.
Throughout Middle School, High School, and College, the trend continued and I always used computers. While obtaining my education, I primarily used computers to play video games. My friends and I would play Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, or World of Warcraft in the evenings. It was something we enjoyed to do, together. As the years went by, we slowly went our separate ways.
Eventually, I became the only one that still plays video games to this day. I enjoy the time I spend playing video games. It allows to hide from the mindless consumer spending I observe on a daily basis. It allows me to escape and decompress after work. I have built new relationships with other people. This has all brought some level of happiness into my life. However, my desire to achieve more has made me realize that I may need to log off soon.
I am now twenty-five years old and beginning my third-year as a financial analyst for a small, private company in my hometown. I think things have gone relatively well for me. However, there is one statistic in my life that I need to improve.
Since 2007, I have spent over 365 days playing one single video game. Yes, that is over one year. Another way to put it is, I have spent 1/10th of a decade playing one single video game. I enjoyed immersing myself in the lore, the challenges, and the relationships I created while on this journey. While others in my real-life friend groups went out on Friday or Saturday nights to bars or clubs, I enjoyed saving some money and staying in for the night.
I am frugal with the money I earn. I always have been. Video games provided me an outlet to maintain a level of happiness in my life that cost significantly less than other options my friends chose. But, sometime within the past three years, this small dissatisfaction inside of me has grown. I have recognized that this dissatisfaction stems from my video gaming habits.
The Times Are Changin’
When I am at work, I am analyzing my employer’s profitability. In my free time, I am researching different methods to increase my profitability in video games. I enjoy both. However, the one thing I have failed to address is my own personal profitability.
My extra effort at work has earned me a five percent raise the past two years, along with several thousand dollars in bonus pay. Even my efforts in farming video game currencies have been somewhat rewarding.
Within the past three years, I have acquired nearly $3,000 in one video game currency that I was able to easily sell. But, this took a lot of time. On weeknights, I played around three hours, on average. Over the weekends, I played around twelve hours, on average. Per week, that is twenty-seven hours, on average. Another way to look at it is that I spent over one day per week playing a video game, on average. That is a significant amount of time for a “side hustle” that only earned me $1,000/year.
There have been times when I recognized that it would be better to allocate my time differently. I knew I needed to spend less time on video games and focus on something in my real-life. I would focus on studying or projects at work, but once those were complete, I would immediately shift my focus back to video games. It has been my natural escape.
Recently, I have viewed my video gaming habits in a negative manner. I now look at it as a lost cause. But, for some reason, it is so hard to simply cut my losses. It is so easy to say, yet so hard to act upon. I like to think that someday all this time I have spent playing video games will provide me a magnificent reward. But that is just a dream and not reality.
I know it is cliché to make this my New Year’s resolution, but it was not intended. I want to write this story. I want to read it. I want to understand it. I want others to read it. But most importantly, I want to use this story as a new beginning. I just so happened to do it on December 31st. By writing my story and putting it all on a screen in front of me, it became easier to analyze my video gaming habits and what actions I need to take.
The Road Ahead
Once I post this article, I will official log off from the video games I play. Since graduating college, I have been fortunate enough to live at home with my parents to save more income. I have roughly $60,000 in my savings account. I have put $12,000 into my 401(k). The only debt I have is my student loans. I still have $20,000 to pay on my school loans, but that is easily manageable.
One of my highest priorities is now to purchase a duplex near my work. Rather than spend twelve hours per weekend playing video games, I will go house hunting and attempt to learn more about the process of not only buying a home, but also renting a portion of it out. My commute to work takes one hour. This move should allow me to reduce my car maintenance and gas costs significantly. I spend $200/month on gas to get to and from work. It will be nice to see that number be reduced.
Some of my other priorities include creating a new side hustle and paying off the remainder of my student loans. It was so easy for me to spend hours researching new methods to earn money in video games. I hope I can use that dedication to create new revenue streams in my own life.
It will be a challenge to stay disciplined once I remove video games from my life. Change is not easy. I might be more inclined now to go out after work with friends to happy hour or eat dinner at a restaurant on Friday evening because I do not have to go home and farm a video game currency. But, I need to remember; I made this change to make my life better.
It took me years to reach this point. Obviously, it would have been more beneficial to me if I made this decision earlier, but at least I reached a point where I am now able to identify the problem and resolve it. While my video game quests may be over, my quest for financial independence is now at the forefront and I hope to one day complete it.
All the best and Happy New Year.
Submitted December 30, 2017 at 09:46PM by Doog123 http://ift.tt/2CsB64N
