Leveling Up: How to Master the Game of Life

There are lots of self-help books out there. The world is not lacking in them. However, one of the more popular trends is gamification: making things into a game so that there are built-in rewards that spur you forward. Part of what led to this surge of popularity is the observation of the motivating effects of otherwise valueless "tokens" such as in-game Achievements and Likes. These simple forms of recognition can prompt gamers to play through a game an additional time, just to find that one secret item than they missed or to make it through in under some amount of time or collect every coin or banana in a level. And, while these achievements and their effect on people is relatively new, the idea of gamifying work is much less so.

"In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.
You find the fun and SNAP! The job's a game."
- Mary Poppins

So, if you can get books on gamification theory or improving your life from a variety of different authors, why Eric Siu's Leveling Up: How to Master the Game of Life? Well, if you're not just a casual gamer, but a long-time gamer and you're familiar with gaming and its concepts and terms, then here's a chance to learn to improve your life from someone who speaks your language. Eric Siu is now deeply involved in entrepreneurship and marketing, but in his early years, he worked hard at being a professional gamer. He had ups and downs, he learned from them, and he's ready to show you what he learned.

Eric Siu shares a great deal of the things he's learned, from the importance of determining a specific and well-defined mission to help focus your efforts to having the correct mindset to learn, grow and overcome challenges - and the dangers of getting too cocky. Siu shares some of the techniques he's found for finding the information you need, from how to find good resources to how to consume them more efficiently. One chapter explains how to adopt new routines to leverage the power of daily habits to more easily work toward your goals. Another speaks on the power of iterating over an idea to improve it, alter it and arrive at something new and transformed... and that it's okay if that original idea wasn't yours, to begin with. Additionally, he touches on some internal personal improvements, such as meditation and stoicism. For a book written by a professional gamer turned marketer/entrepreneur, I have to admit, I didn't see that coming.

Each chapter contains a section called Gamify Your Life With These Power Tips that summarizes some of the more important information or recommends tips and tools for working on the improvements found in that chapter. Each chapter also has a Quest section that describes a specific way to improve your life and explains an activity or action you can start immediately. Some quests will ask you to stop reading until the quest is complete, and others are very short exercises, while Siu instructs you to continue reading the book while working on other quests. These changes of pace dependent on the completion of a task add some of the feel of a game. Books are typically quite linear and continuous, but these quests play with that continuity a bit. Also, Siu uses the linear nature of a book to provide "Bonus" material that is unlocked upon reaching a certain point in the book. This is entertaining, but it also gives readers something to look forward to and provides a benefit in the form of resources that are outside of the confines of the book. I would not want to spoil these bonuses by revealing what they are, but I couldn't if I wanted to, as I haven't seen them, myself. I am writing this review before the actual release of Leveling Up: How to Master the Game of Life and, as of this writing, these links aren't yet live. I can't say what the bonuses might be, nor can I say for sure whether they will or will not be available online by the time the book releases. However, by tying into a webpage, these bonuses can be dynamic, changing over time, while the printed words in the book will remain the same.

If you're looking for advice on boosting your performance in life, focusing on the things that are important to you, and building new habits to help you become more successful at achieving your goals, Eric Sui has some useful information to share, gleaned from a personal history in esports and competitive gaming, with useful marketing information, to boot. If you're not interested in marketing at all, this book might change your opinion. If you are interested in marketing, already, getting this book is a no-brainer.