How video games are designed to train your brain

We never give up when we lose a game, only focus on winning it, & try different things until we have another win 🏆.

Hey everyone👋, welcome to the 31st newsletter.

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If you keep winning in a video game, your brain trains itself to win over and over again. First, it gives you a small and easy level to build winning momentum and get you to know how to play and what all things you’ll have to fight against for. Second, it prepares your brain with new ideas and things that help you win the harder levels.

As each easy level you win, it gives you a harder level, until you lose. Once you lose, you try again maybe after taking a break or changing the strategy but you always come back.

Then there’s a win. That feeling is so satisfying. The win usually gives you how to tackle bigger problems and tougher situations. Games have all - win/loss, consistency, strategy, timing, and focus.

On the other hand, it should be same for our startup/product. We tend to give up if we don’t succeed.

We never give up when we lose a game and we only focus on winning, try different strategies but keep playing until we have another win.

Here are a few things that your brain trains when you play video games, try implementing them when you work on your product:

Winning small levels to win more points 🎯

With each level you play, you get rewards (when you win) that significantly give you some points or coins (small MRR or new signups) to help you play the next level, accumulating a huge number of points (building ladder to reach more features and users).

They give you easy levels to play for a long time in the beginning. So, that you keep playing and each level is easy for you to win. Once you’re used to winning, they give you a difficult level. Hence, you play the real game.

Equivalently, if you have bigger goals with your startup, start by breaking them down into smaller ones. Once you achieve them do celebrate and get back on it to be on the momentum (keep the momentum as long as you can). This momentum helps you stay on the winning side.

Go for small goals because sometimes you aren’t ready how to tackle or lead the bigger ones, that’s why you fail. The challenge you get with smaller goals will prepare you to fight bigger problems. Suppose, you have an idea & you’re fully funded. Also, you build a great team. There is a high chance of being cashed out if you don’t know how to handle resources.

Image source: Janis Ozolins

Deep focus 🧘🏻‍♀️

Kinda funny how focused a gamer is while playing video games. Their hands are instructing remote and their brain is constantly focused on strategic thinking and planning to win the game. They are so prepared for their next move & absolutely forget what’s happening around them. Eyes only on the target.

When you work on your startup/product, a few hours of focus gives you the best productivity, so work smart and do less hard work.

In research, it shows you require only 1-3 hours of constant focused work to be productive and get the job done. You can’t work more than that, you’re brain will get tired and will ask for rest.

We struggle to focus because we expand our work list and clutter our surroundings. Having too many things on the desk, again, affects our focus and ability to complete the task.

Image source: Janis Ozolins

Only here to win 💪

It’s the hardest but that’s the truth, we give up if we don’t see success.

Dagobert Renouf @dagorenouf

I lost hope for my startup exactly 1 year ago. Had only made $673 in Jan-Feb 2021 😕 And my brain was out of ideas 😞 But in my gut I knew I should keep trying 💪 So I did... and 3 months later found a solution 😯 Now Jan-Feb 2022 we made $5,430 🤯 My gut > my brain 🙏

Whenever I play a video game and win, I’m eager to win another one, with “winning” being the only thing in my mind (there’s no other way). You got to keep moving forward.

As you start losing, you start losing interest in working on your product leading to running out of ideas (how to make it better).

If you’re able to release that important feature update within a day, it’s a win, then spending 2-3 weeks on it. It’s obvious you’ll get bored at times. So, break the scope down into smaller goals that can be achieved in 1-2 days or even in hours. If you see you’re making positive slow progress, your subconscious mind will only see it as winning and produce better ideas at a speed.

That brings us to our next point.

Being consistent gives you ideas 🏃🏻‍♀️

That’s for sure! If you’re consistently winning and keep trying to win with a positive mindset your brain is in the active mode to produce ideas at a higher speed. Altogether your focus is on the right place, you’re consistent and can clearly see the positive outcome.

Just like you don’t stop/give up even when you’ve won or lost in the game, your startup requires the same level of consistency to come up with opportunities and ideas.

If lost, take some break ☕️

Not just in the game, when you keep winning your brain is simultaneously working - it needs rest from time to time. There’ll be a point when you’ll start losing. That’s the time to realize you need some break. Come again tomorrow, with the same mindset - to win, and you’ll see you’re again in the winning row.

You’ll burn out quickly if you keep moving forward and not giving yourself a break. That can bring some disappointments. It’s better to take some chill time than to break that momentum.

Image source: Janis Ozolins

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👋 PS: I’m Ritika founder, product marketer and advisor for early-stage startups, find more here or connect with her here. If you’re a first-time founder looking for curated resources, download here. If you enjoyed this post, read the past issues here. You can also promote your product in this newsletter.

A big thanks for reading & sharing!