If life is a game, are there other players?
What are the rules of the game?
Is there an umpire?
What decides how well I played?
I recently attended a WBECS session by Jeremy Hunter where I learnt about the concept of the inner game and the outer game. It speaks of the inner self-talk you have within yourself, of your values, assumptions, beliefs, ideas, and emotions. And then there is the outer side of the world you deal with where you interact with other people, attend team meetings, maybe need to manage an organization, consider the larger ecosystem. In short, listen and observe attentively to the world outside you. This concept was described in the symbol of infinity with inner game on one side and outer game on the other.
Now, if you imagine any situation you are in, there would be no doubt instances of an inner game and outer game. You could look at this as a state of being and state of doing as well. The way I see it is there can be multiple loops that happen, but we should be watchful to not get stuck in one loop for too long. It is necessary to gather all the data and information you collect in your outer game and then run it through your inner game. Once this is sorted, go ahead and take the plunge into another loop of outer game continuously processing it within your inner game. These could be commitments, plans, discussions or even a disagreement. The journey of moving between your inner game and outer game is, what I call, the dance of infinity!
Dance, for me is flowing, rhythmic, relaxing. I believe, your awareness and ability to segregate the important from the trivial would make the dance elegant. This also reminds me of Timothy Gallwey’s Inner Game of Work which explains how your Performance depends on your true Potential without Interference.
Performance = Potential – Interference
This concept brings about the most brilliant possibility of every human being having the capability of reaching their highest potential. All you must do is figure out what the interference is and deal with what does not resonate with you. My reflection so far, through my coaching journey, has been that non-acceptance of self and others is the biggest interference.
Being aware of and dealing with interference in the inner game for now, has made my dance between inner game and outer game more graceful. And through infiite possibilities, I find answers to my questions:
If life is a game, are there other players?
–“I define my game as a single-player game, others I interact with are a part of the game”
What are the rules of the game?
–“I decide the rules of my game based on my own beliefs and values and I am self-evolving”
Is there an umpire?
–“It would be myself who be the best judge of what is fair and if they are according to my own set rules”.
What decides how well I played?
–“I see life as a journey of many levels. I will at every step evaluate my own game, analyse how well I played, reward myself and keep dancing away through infinity!”
This is my game of life and dance of infinity, are you ready to define your game?