I had a very strange video game experience the other day. I was playing The Division and I walked into a mission with a ton of confidence, mowed down almost all the baddies in a cavalcade of skill and patience. So, I was almost done with the entire experience when a guy I thought I shot got up and took me out. Now this isn’t really important or the point at all. The point is that I tried to go back and do the mission again and I tried and tried and six or maybe seven times later I recognized that it wasn’t working. I was missing something. Maybe it was the whirlwind of energy and confidence I started with and maybe that itself is the point.
I think it all comes down to state of mind. People often say mind over matter and willpower rules the day and all that jazz, but they often don’t believe it. The fact is there is truth to the matter. I lost confidence and lost the ability to succeed—and I’m not just talking about video games here. When I started getting my head right, I started having more success.