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Level Up Your Life: How to Unlock Adventure and Happiness by Becoming the Hero of Your Own Story
Level Up Your Life uses the principles of video games, movies, television, comic books, and pop culture to teach you how to transform your life in extraordinary ways and collect real-world experiences that are just as amazing and fulfilling as the adventures of comic book heroes and video game characters. Learn how to design your own personal Epic Quest of Awesome through advice on health, fitness, travel, and finance.
Author Steve Kamb, the founder/creator of NerdFitness.com, leads you on a journey to discover the kind of game you want to play, including how to: Develop a leveling structure, Create a personal Origin Story (every hero has a great origin story), Determine what your Level 50 character will look like, Build your own quest lists, Hack your productivity, habits, and willpower to build momentum, Build in rewards and accountability, Add allies to your party, expanding your community, Find your own personal Yoda or Morpheus (i.e. mentor) to help you along the way, Restart and earn Extra Lives (how to keep going when you get scared or stuck).
The world needs more heroes. Will you heed the call?
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 12, 2016
344 people are currently reading
3318 people want to read
About the author
Steve Kamb
9 books201 followersMany people believe that Steve Kamb was created in a laboratory in the 1940s as part of a top-secret government program to fight the Nazis. Those people are wrong; that was Steve Rogers, and he became Captain America. But close enough. Steve Kamb was born on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, raised by two loving parents and a Nintendo Entertainment System. When he wasn't getting lost in video games, he spent his childhood playing tennis baseball in the streets, building tree forts in the backyard, having Nerf wars in the basement, and participating in neighborhood-wide games of capture the flag.
Upon graduating from Vanderbilt University in 2006, he began developing the idea for a website to help beginners get healthy and avoid all of the usual pitfalls. Years later, that site became NerdFitness.com, a now-worldwide fitness community dedicated to helping nerds, desk jockeys, and self-aware robots level up their lives.
While running his company from a coconut laptop, Steve has adventured all over the world, explored the ruins of Machu Picchu, dived with sharks on the Great Barrier Reef, and lived like James Bond in Monte Carlo. He has guest lectured at Google, Google Dublin, Facebook, TEDxEmory, and regularly speaks at Vanderbilt University.
He recently moved from Nashville, Tennessee, to New York City to continue his quest of becoming Captain America. He spends his free time picking up heavy things, singing off-key, gaming, and playing music as loudly as possible. He hopes to one day own an island in the Caribbean, be part of a heist, and reach level 50 in the Game of Life.
Upon graduating from Vanderbilt University in 2006, he began developing the idea for a website to help beginners get healthy and avoid all of the usual pitfalls. Years later, that site became NerdFitness.com, a now-worldwide fitness community dedicated to helping nerds, desk jockeys, and self-aware robots level up their lives.
While running his company from a coconut laptop, Steve has adventured all over the world, explored the ruins of Machu Picchu, dived with sharks on the Great Barrier Reef, and lived like James Bond in Monte Carlo. He has guest lectured at Google, Google Dublin, Facebook, TEDxEmory, and regularly speaks at Vanderbilt University.
He recently moved from Nashville, Tennessee, to New York City to continue his quest of becoming Captain America. He spends his free time picking up heavy things, singing off-key, gaming, and playing music as loudly as possible. He hopes to one day own an island in the Caribbean, be part of a heist, and reach level 50 in the Game of Life.
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November 5, 2017
Steve Kamb, the creator of nerdfitness.com, offers behavioral games and community support to assist readers in becoming their best self. It's the self help genre meets gamification.
Steve was addicted to video games, miserable at his job and disappointed with life. "I still love those games and movies and enjoy the entertainment they provide. They're a part of who I am as a person. The problem was that they had become a way to avoid the unhappiness in my real life while also allowing me to continue doing nothing about it." pg xi
The game that had him hopelessly hooked was EverQuest. "What had begun as a fun way to blow off some steam after school or work quickly became an addiction." pg 5.
So, Steve took what he loved best about the game- the levels, the endless quests, the secrets- and created an online community in which the members support each other to become the best whatever-it-is you want to be through just those things.
Essentially, Steve takes the hero's journey, as described by Joseph Campbell, and crafts a way to implement that into your life through your own preferences. "Life is meant to be lived on your own terms." pg 23
I picked this up because I recently read a behavioral game book and I wanted to see what the theory would look like in action. Steve has done a solid job making his game completely customizable.
He provides examples between the chapters of people who have used his game to "level up" their lives. The results are impressive.
"The truth is that most people fear change. They, themselves, might want to change but don't want to put forth the effort and energy to make it happen." pg 57.
With Level Up Your Life, Steve gives readers the tools to make their lives into a game of their choosing. Recommended for gamers and the young at heart.
Steve was addicted to video games, miserable at his job and disappointed with life. "I still love those games and movies and enjoy the entertainment they provide. They're a part of who I am as a person. The problem was that they had become a way to avoid the unhappiness in my real life while also allowing me to continue doing nothing about it." pg xi
The game that had him hopelessly hooked was EverQuest. "What had begun as a fun way to blow off some steam after school or work quickly became an addiction." pg 5.
So, Steve took what he loved best about the game- the levels, the endless quests, the secrets- and created an online community in which the members support each other to become the best whatever-it-is you want to be through just those things.
Essentially, Steve takes the hero's journey, as described by Joseph Campbell, and crafts a way to implement that into your life through your own preferences. "Life is meant to be lived on your own terms." pg 23
I picked this up because I recently read a behavioral game book and I wanted to see what the theory would look like in action. Steve has done a solid job making his game completely customizable.
He provides examples between the chapters of people who have used his game to "level up" their lives. The results are impressive.
"The truth is that most people fear change. They, themselves, might want to change but don't want to put forth the effort and energy to make it happen." pg 57.
With Level Up Your Life, Steve gives readers the tools to make their lives into a game of their choosing. Recommended for gamers and the young at heart.
January 3, 2016
This is a must-read book for all nerds, introverts and hopeful Jedi. Steve Kamb takes the mentorship of Obi-Wan, Gandalf, Morpheus and Professor Dumbledore, and blurs the divide between fantasy and reality as he helps you tackle your biggest life goal(s) like a James Bond mission. "Level Up Your Life" is practical and actionable advice for nerds like me, who understand discussions of Bowser's acceleration in Super Mario Kart, but can finally take our know-how offline, off the couch, and away from our books and apply them in the real world.
January 23, 2016
I initially gave this book a lower rating out of embarrassment that my (virtual) shelves are becoming ever more stuffed with self help books. But there's no sense in bashing it for being what it sets out to be.
Nominally the book deals with making improvements in any area of your life, but as it grew out of the author's website Nerd Fitness it retains a strong bias towards health and fitness. There's a decent chunk of world travel and a smattering of starting your own business too, reflecting Kamb's own journey through life.
These are of course all well represented sub-genres of self help, but this book's new twist is to approach life like a videogame, considering the challenges you want to tackle in life as 'quests' made up of smaller 'missions'. The goal is to repurpose the techniques that make games addictive and apply them to achieving the things you really care about.
In that sense it's much in the same vein as Jane McGonigal's Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World , but with the advantages (if you consider them to be so) of being much shorter and more directly instructional.
It's too early to say whether I'll see any long-term benefits from adopting the strategies from this book, but I've started giving it a try and so far it has at least added a little bit of extra fun to my workouts.
Nominally the book deals with making improvements in any area of your life, but as it grew out of the author's website Nerd Fitness it retains a strong bias towards health and fitness. There's a decent chunk of world travel and a smattering of starting your own business too, reflecting Kamb's own journey through life.
These are of course all well represented sub-genres of self help, but this book's new twist is to approach life like a videogame, considering the challenges you want to tackle in life as 'quests' made up of smaller 'missions'. The goal is to repurpose the techniques that make games addictive and apply them to achieving the things you really care about.
In that sense it's much in the same vein as Jane McGonigal's Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World , but with the advantages (if you consider them to be so) of being much shorter and more directly instructional.
It's too early to say whether I'll see any long-term benefits from adopting the strategies from this book, but I've started giving it a try and so far it has at least added a little bit of extra fun to my workouts.
February 1, 2016
I once heard the story of a man who, in the moments before he was to commit suicide, decided that instead of ending his life he could instead treat his remaining existence as a big experiment without regard for the consequences. What's the worst that could happen? He could die, sure. But that was his intended goal just a few moments ago.
Level Up Your Life is a self-development framework based around how computer games are designed to be addictive.
What would it be like if you applied those very same tactics to make your life more awesome?
The same sneaky tactics that get you to spend just another 5 minutes playing can also be used to build the life you actually want.
Think about your typical role-playing game: you start off weak and through small battles build up your experience until you 'level up' and become stronger. Now you can take on bigger challenges, earn more experience and continue to get better. Sounds a lot like self-development to me.
Don't expect this book to bring any ground-breaking new (self-development) ideas to the table. But expect it to apply and explain those ideas in a way that lays out a framework that can motivate those interested in computer games and fantasy stories.
First we are going to rename Goals as Quests (much cooler). And then we're going to chunk these quests down in to things that will earn us experience points.
Quest: Spend a day in Chile only speaking Spanish.
We're going to need to be a level 20 bad-ass to pull that one off. So let's work out the challenges that will earn us experience points:
Learn one word of Spanish every day for 30 days: 10 exp
Pre-book 10 lessons of Spanish: 10exp
Find someone who speaks Spanish you can have coffee with once a week: 20exp
Read a childrens book in Spanish: 20exp
Book a flight to Chile: 20 exp
Spend a day in Chile only speaking Spanish: 50exp
LEVEL UP!
This simple gamification of life can have a profound effect. One, it chunks down big goals to a size that is manageable. Two, it has this interesting ability to remove self-doubt. When life is just a game, you are free to fail and start again.
The book covers many over elements like the Heroes Story, Health Bar, Multiplayer Mode (build yourself a team!), Avatar Building, Power-Ups and returning home to teach others what you have learned.
There is a common thread of belief that run throughout the gamer/nerd culture and it works something like this: I'm smarter than most other people, I don't live up to my potential and the only reason I'm not successful is because I'm lazy.
This belief system leads to a feeling of disappointment about how life has turned out. Growing up on epic tales of adventure encourages an expectation that your life will naturally, and effortlessly, turn out the same. Unfortunately, it's easier to eat bad food, form bad habits and escape in to fantasy land at the end of a hard day at work. The drop in self-esteem that comes from these behaviours further reinforces the cycle.
Level Up Your Life gives you an opportunity to escape this pattern. Learn the method, join a community of like-minded people, then start small and build up those experience points.
And before you know it, you'll be slaying dragons.
Level Up Your Life is a self-development framework based around how computer games are designed to be addictive.
What would it be like if you applied those very same tactics to make your life more awesome?
The same sneaky tactics that get you to spend just another 5 minutes playing can also be used to build the life you actually want.
Think about your typical role-playing game: you start off weak and through small battles build up your experience until you 'level up' and become stronger. Now you can take on bigger challenges, earn more experience and continue to get better. Sounds a lot like self-development to me.
Don't expect this book to bring any ground-breaking new (self-development) ideas to the table. But expect it to apply and explain those ideas in a way that lays out a framework that can motivate those interested in computer games and fantasy stories.
First we are going to rename Goals as Quests (much cooler). And then we're going to chunk these quests down in to things that will earn us experience points.
Quest: Spend a day in Chile only speaking Spanish.
We're going to need to be a level 20 bad-ass to pull that one off. So let's work out the challenges that will earn us experience points:
Learn one word of Spanish every day for 30 days: 10 exp
Pre-book 10 lessons of Spanish: 10exp
Find someone who speaks Spanish you can have coffee with once a week: 20exp
Read a childrens book in Spanish: 20exp
Book a flight to Chile: 20 exp
Spend a day in Chile only speaking Spanish: 50exp
LEVEL UP!
This simple gamification of life can have a profound effect. One, it chunks down big goals to a size that is manageable. Two, it has this interesting ability to remove self-doubt. When life is just a game, you are free to fail and start again.
The book covers many over elements like the Heroes Story, Health Bar, Multiplayer Mode (build yourself a team!), Avatar Building, Power-Ups and returning home to teach others what you have learned.
There is a common thread of belief that run throughout the gamer/nerd culture and it works something like this: I'm smarter than most other people, I don't live up to my potential and the only reason I'm not successful is because I'm lazy.
This belief system leads to a feeling of disappointment about how life has turned out. Growing up on epic tales of adventure encourages an expectation that your life will naturally, and effortlessly, turn out the same. Unfortunately, it's easier to eat bad food, form bad habits and escape in to fantasy land at the end of a hard day at work. The drop in self-esteem that comes from these behaviours further reinforces the cycle.
Level Up Your Life gives you an opportunity to escape this pattern. Learn the method, join a community of like-minded people, then start small and build up those experience points.
And before you know it, you'll be slaying dragons.
January 16, 2016
I loved this! It's everything Nerd Fitness has been teaching for years, condensed and re-imagined and then expanded again. The actionable parts in particular were my favorite -- where I got to set the book down and go make my own character, or plan my own Level 50. While, like most self-help books, it's aimed towards adults and has some aspects that are difficult to act on as a minor or student, it gives me big plans for the future and a lot of excitement for the now in regards to the things I can currently do. My only "complaint" would be that I found the success stories awkwardly placed, and they sometimes disrupted the flow of the chapter, but I can't think of a solution because I realize they needed to be 2-page spreads.
Overall, great book! Re-imagines and replaces a lot of conventional workout and life improvement wisdom with it's own nerdy and scientifically-backed advice. A great addition to the shelf of anyone looking to, well, level up their life!
Overall, great book! Re-imagines and replaces a lot of conventional workout and life improvement wisdom with it's own nerdy and scientifically-backed advice. A great addition to the shelf of anyone looking to, well, level up their life!
September 28, 2016
I think I found the key to getting teenagers to think about their future.
I've been following Steve's blog almost from the beginning, and this book is a great distillation of his methods into an actionable plan for finding your path forward in life.
I gave this book to a 13 year old gaming enthusiast I know, and he immediately read the entire book and wrote out his life plan based on the book.
I've been following Steve's blog almost from the beginning, and this book is a great distillation of his methods into an actionable plan for finding your path forward in life.
I gave this book to a 13 year old gaming enthusiast I know, and he immediately read the entire book and wrote out his life plan based on the book.
February 2, 2016
I've never been a big fan of self-help books or seminars which usually involve some dude shaking his fist at you while standing at a podium being paid $100,000 for a 1 hour performance. "Pay me money and you get to walk across hot coals! It's just mind over matter! You wanna make a lot of money....well now you can with my new book!"
The self-help industry is kind of a crock and lacks a certain credibility yet it's a billion dollar industry. They all seem to be saying 'Buy this book' or 'Take this course....it'll make you all better'.
I think that self-help books/courses just reinforce perceptions of inferiority, shame, contradictions, and creates far-fetched expectations.
This book is all about gamification, which is a term I recently learned from my spouse as she mentioned a local woman (Tina Holland) who gave a talk to a bunch of teachers about gamification in the classroom. My spouse enjoyed the talk but she is not a gamer so its not really something that she chooses to apply. When she told me about it I shook my head and agreed that I thought it was a great concept. Kids love video games and they're all playing them! 'Do your homework for a month and you gain an achievement!' 'If you make it to the end of the school year without an F you level up'
So knowing all that I decided to give this book a read! I didn't expect much and figured I might jot down a few notes here and there and then look at myself in the mirror and say, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me." But, this book is actually quite fun and a bit of an adventure in itself to read. There's a few chapters that seem a tad bit redundant and pretty much end the same way saying, 'Ready to start? Lets start on this adventure!'
I had never heard of Nerdfitness.com, so this whole thing was new to me! As a Geek and avid gamer (role-playing and table top) this whole concept immediately appealed to me. I already think in gaming terms and the majority of us gamers are always trying to come up with our own gaming stats, abilities, alignments, classes, skills, feats, and whatever else. The concept of the hero's journey is very appealing though I don't normally think of myself as the hero (I'm more like an anti-hero like The Punisher or Ghost Rider or the Grey Jedi that walk the line) but c'mon, who doesn't like the hero's journey in books, movies and games? Just look at lil' Bilbo Baggins, or Odysseus, Luke Skywalker, Batman, Link from the Zelda games, or even Neo from the Matrix. I've enjoyed the books of Joseph Campbell and I can see his influence in this book as well as many others I've enjoyed over the years.
This author put a lot of work into this book and the website: Nerdfitness.com and I'm glad to have read it and to be a part of it. I'm already working on my profile and character sheet on the site...LoL and hopefully I'll join up with the Rebellion soon. This book is full of specific, tangible, creative and fun advice and tactics that you can apply right away and the good thing is that it's like a yummy burrito that's wrapped in a blend of Geek/Nerd references to games, movies, books, as well as a cool levelling up structure and more that I can relate to. I would highly recommend this for those that enjoy gaming and have looked at or considered the Paleo-diet since that's a big part of it too!
The self-help industry is kind of a crock and lacks a certain credibility yet it's a billion dollar industry. They all seem to be saying 'Buy this book' or 'Take this course....it'll make you all better'.
I think that self-help books/courses just reinforce perceptions of inferiority, shame, contradictions, and creates far-fetched expectations.
This book is all about gamification, which is a term I recently learned from my spouse as she mentioned a local woman (Tina Holland) who gave a talk to a bunch of teachers about gamification in the classroom. My spouse enjoyed the talk but she is not a gamer so its not really something that she chooses to apply. When she told me about it I shook my head and agreed that I thought it was a great concept. Kids love video games and they're all playing them! 'Do your homework for a month and you gain an achievement!' 'If you make it to the end of the school year without an F you level up'
So knowing all that I decided to give this book a read! I didn't expect much and figured I might jot down a few notes here and there and then look at myself in the mirror and say, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me." But, this book is actually quite fun and a bit of an adventure in itself to read. There's a few chapters that seem a tad bit redundant and pretty much end the same way saying, 'Ready to start? Lets start on this adventure!'
I had never heard of Nerdfitness.com, so this whole thing was new to me! As a Geek and avid gamer (role-playing and table top) this whole concept immediately appealed to me. I already think in gaming terms and the majority of us gamers are always trying to come up with our own gaming stats, abilities, alignments, classes, skills, feats, and whatever else. The concept of the hero's journey is very appealing though I don't normally think of myself as the hero (I'm more like an anti-hero like The Punisher or Ghost Rider or the Grey Jedi that walk the line) but c'mon, who doesn't like the hero's journey in books, movies and games? Just look at lil' Bilbo Baggins, or Odysseus, Luke Skywalker, Batman, Link from the Zelda games, or even Neo from the Matrix. I've enjoyed the books of Joseph Campbell and I can see his influence in this book as well as many others I've enjoyed over the years.
This author put a lot of work into this book and the website: Nerdfitness.com and I'm glad to have read it and to be a part of it. I'm already working on my profile and character sheet on the site...LoL and hopefully I'll join up with the Rebellion soon. This book is full of specific, tangible, creative and fun advice and tactics that you can apply right away and the good thing is that it's like a yummy burrito that's wrapped in a blend of Geek/Nerd references to games, movies, books, as well as a cool levelling up structure and more that I can relate to. I would highly recommend this for those that enjoy gaming and have looked at or considered the Paleo-diet since that's a big part of it too!
October 8, 2018
Not bad, a book on kind of looking at your life like a video game, where you can level up, in order to find happiness and get things done. The book does make a pretty good point that the part we love about video games isn't so much beating them as getting to the point where we beat them, that the entire game is supposed to be fun. That's just an analogy about the podunk saying "It's not the destination, it's the journey," but one that kind of made sense.
Overall, this book KIND of seems like an advertisement for Steven Kamb's company Nerd Fitness, which is kind of pricy to join, but I'm actually kind of swayed more in the direction of signing up after reading this book. It just looks like fun.
Overall, this book KIND of seems like an advertisement for Steven Kamb's company Nerd Fitness, which is kind of pricy to join, but I'm actually kind of swayed more in the direction of signing up after reading this book. It just looks like fun.
January 9, 2018
It’s January, so a lot of people are currently working on resolutions they vowed to do this new year. So what better way to start off the year than with one of those ‘self-help books’ that will help me achieve my goals if I just follow the methods put forward by the author.
I discovered Steve Kamb and Nerd Fitness sometime last year while researching Intermittent Fasting. I found the article to be really informative, and it encouraged me to check out the rest of the site. I stuck around for a while and discovered that lo and behold, Steve Kamb had actually published a book called Level Up Your Life.
In a nutshell, Level Up Your Life details how to achieve your goals and become a more awesome person through gamification. Gamification is basically a rewards-based system to make some kind of changes. For example, someone wishing to lose 40kg of weight may implement a system where for every 5 kg of weight loss, they can reward themselves with something like a new book or game. Anyway, Steve Kamb goes into a lot more detail in his book Level Up Your Life.
I think this book definitely appeals to those who have a strong interest in nerd culture and specific things within it. Kamb uses a lot of examples from various pop culture icons such as Batman, Jason Bourne, and Katniss Everdeen to get his points across. And honestly, the examples work really well with the arguments that Kamb is making.
Another thing implemented well, is that Kamb’s websites Level Up Your Life, and Nerd Fitness allow you to make a character and set goals which you can assign points to, to gain XP and essentially level up a character. There are a few activities in the book that you can do on pen and paper, or you can use this site for an easier and more fun way of implementing the gamification system.
So, what did I think?
Just quickly: I quite enjoyed this book, and I got more out of it than what I thought I would.
I feel like I’ve read a lot of the advice that was in here before, and I did find it encouraging, and it has put me on track for thinking about trying to achieve my goals using a gamification system. I did feel like towards of the book I was starting to get a little tired of the book. I think that’s more because towards the end there was a lot of talk about nutrition and exercise and how it should be done. (I think that’s more of a personal gripe, where whenever I read a book about a particular subject I always get annoyed when an author mentions their specific way of eating and exercising and suggesting that people should do it that specific way.) That being said, Steve Kamb does say that these are suggestions and that other things are worth trying as well.
I think another thing that was starting to bother me by the end was the references to Jason Bourne. I have no desire to be Jason Bourne (I haven’t even seen those movies, and I don’t care to), and so I kind of just started switching off at those parts because I want to be me, and not someone else. That being said, his point is more that you should aspire to be the awesome person that you think you should be and not the mundane character that you are.
I didn’t find this book to be the most profound and inspiring book I have ever read, but there was actually some good advice hidden between the pages. I’m definitely keen on the gamification system, and I think Kamb lays down some pretty good foundations on how to set up your goals in this kind of form. But another thing that struck me in this book (and most likely had the biggest impact on my thoughts) was about how we choose who we spend time with and the memories we collect with those people. It got me thinking about some of the people that I spend time with, and how there are some of them that I dread spending time with because they’re just really negative people and I have absolutely no meaningful and happy memories with them. On the other hand, I have some wonderful friends that I have the best memories with, and I feel like I just appreciate them so much more after reading this book.
As I finish writing my thoughts on this book, I have come to another realisation or lesson learned from this book. In various places, Steve Kamb says that we should find things that we love and those are the things that we find ourselves so immersed in that we lose track of time. As I was writing this, I found that I genuinely did lose track of time. I do love writing, and I do feel I could get lost in writing, I just need to find the medium that suits me most. For now, I’ll settle with writing down what I thought of the books I read.
I discovered Steve Kamb and Nerd Fitness sometime last year while researching Intermittent Fasting. I found the article to be really informative, and it encouraged me to check out the rest of the site. I stuck around for a while and discovered that lo and behold, Steve Kamb had actually published a book called Level Up Your Life.
In a nutshell, Level Up Your Life details how to achieve your goals and become a more awesome person through gamification. Gamification is basically a rewards-based system to make some kind of changes. For example, someone wishing to lose 40kg of weight may implement a system where for every 5 kg of weight loss, they can reward themselves with something like a new book or game. Anyway, Steve Kamb goes into a lot more detail in his book Level Up Your Life.
I think this book definitely appeals to those who have a strong interest in nerd culture and specific things within it. Kamb uses a lot of examples from various pop culture icons such as Batman, Jason Bourne, and Katniss Everdeen to get his points across. And honestly, the examples work really well with the arguments that Kamb is making.
Another thing implemented well, is that Kamb’s websites Level Up Your Life, and Nerd Fitness allow you to make a character and set goals which you can assign points to, to gain XP and essentially level up a character. There are a few activities in the book that you can do on pen and paper, or you can use this site for an easier and more fun way of implementing the gamification system.
So, what did I think?
Just quickly: I quite enjoyed this book, and I got more out of it than what I thought I would.
I feel like I’ve read a lot of the advice that was in here before, and I did find it encouraging, and it has put me on track for thinking about trying to achieve my goals using a gamification system. I did feel like towards of the book I was starting to get a little tired of the book. I think that’s more because towards the end there was a lot of talk about nutrition and exercise and how it should be done. (I think that’s more of a personal gripe, where whenever I read a book about a particular subject I always get annoyed when an author mentions their specific way of eating and exercising and suggesting that people should do it that specific way.) That being said, Steve Kamb does say that these are suggestions and that other things are worth trying as well.
I think another thing that was starting to bother me by the end was the references to Jason Bourne. I have no desire to be Jason Bourne (I haven’t even seen those movies, and I don’t care to), and so I kind of just started switching off at those parts because I want to be me, and not someone else. That being said, his point is more that you should aspire to be the awesome person that you think you should be and not the mundane character that you are.
I didn’t find this book to be the most profound and inspiring book I have ever read, but there was actually some good advice hidden between the pages. I’m definitely keen on the gamification system, and I think Kamb lays down some pretty good foundations on how to set up your goals in this kind of form. But another thing that struck me in this book (and most likely had the biggest impact on my thoughts) was about how we choose who we spend time with and the memories we collect with those people. It got me thinking about some of the people that I spend time with, and how there are some of them that I dread spending time with because they’re just really negative people and I have absolutely no meaningful and happy memories with them. On the other hand, I have some wonderful friends that I have the best memories with, and I feel like I just appreciate them so much more after reading this book.
As I finish writing my thoughts on this book, I have come to another realisation or lesson learned from this book. In various places, Steve Kamb says that we should find things that we love and those are the things that we find ourselves so immersed in that we lose track of time. As I was writing this, I found that I genuinely did lose track of time. I do love writing, and I do feel I could get lost in writing, I just need to find the medium that suits me most. For now, I’ll settle with writing down what I thought of the books I read.
February 15, 2016
I'm not generally a fan of self-help books, because I find that mostly the person they're really just out to actually help is the author's pocketbook. But I've got several online friends that are fans of Steve Kamb's nerdfitness.com site, so I figured I'd give it a read and got a copy from the library.
It's a good core concept, using gamification to achieve personal goals, whether it be fitness or travel or what have you. Breaking things down into a series of mini-quests making walking for 5 minutes a day into the MMORPG equivalent of killing rats at level 1 and grinding xp to eventually take down dragons.
But even as short as the book is, I feel like it spends a lot of its pages with filler repetition rather than building and expanding upon the ideas introduced in the 30 pages or so.
And maybe it's just me embracing excuses, but some of the advice really seemed like a recipe for disaster. Not happy with your job? You should totally quit and just buckle down and work hard to do something you really like! He acknowledges that some folks are playing the Game of Life at different difficulty levels, and I have to think that his background colors his experience. It's easier to take huge risks when you're single, young, and have a well off family you can use as a safety net. When you're married with a kid, your priorities (should) shift to security, in my opinion. So sure, work towards your goals, save, and accomplish them, but don't think it's as easy as he makes it out to be. At the end of the day, he's selling something, and he tells you himself that he's a child of salespeople, and one of his first job was as a salesperson). The best salespeople find a need, and learn to sell to that need, which is what he does. I leave it up to other folks to determine how altruistic they think his motives are.
Still, I recommend the read, it's goes some decent core ideas, a good motivating read, and I went and joined the forums over at his site. I won't be buying into Nerd Fitness Academy, the pay side of the site though.
It's a good core concept, using gamification to achieve personal goals, whether it be fitness or travel or what have you. Breaking things down into a series of mini-quests making walking for 5 minutes a day into the MMORPG equivalent of killing rats at level 1 and grinding xp to eventually take down dragons.
But even as short as the book is, I feel like it spends a lot of its pages with filler repetition rather than building and expanding upon the ideas introduced in the 30 pages or so.
And maybe it's just me embracing excuses, but some of the advice really seemed like a recipe for disaster. Not happy with your job? You should totally quit and just buckle down and work hard to do something you really like! He acknowledges that some folks are playing the Game of Life at different difficulty levels, and I have to think that his background colors his experience. It's easier to take huge risks when you're single, young, and have a well off family you can use as a safety net. When you're married with a kid, your priorities (should) shift to security, in my opinion. So sure, work towards your goals, save, and accomplish them, but don't think it's as easy as he makes it out to be. At the end of the day, he's selling something, and he tells you himself that he's a child of salespeople, and one of his first job was as a salesperson). The best salespeople find a need, and learn to sell to that need, which is what he does. I leave it up to other folks to determine how altruistic they think his motives are.
Still, I recommend the read, it's goes some decent core ideas, a good motivating read, and I went and joined the forums over at his site. I won't be buying into Nerd Fitness Academy, the pay side of the site though.
May 12, 2016
My review is lower than it might have been had I not recently read Superbetter. They touch on very similar topics and, honestly, I think Superbetter does a better job. The elements of the system are more explicitly laid out and the system is more accessible and broad. However, that does not mean this book is bad. Indeed, you might get a lot out of it. But maybe check both books out from the library and see which one speaks to you more before you buy.
One thing this book has going for it is its particular focus on fitness. For example, the game classes he describes are defined by physical traits. However, given how much it talks about travel and fulfilling work, it is positioning itself as more than a fitness book. (For example, "Level 50" is defined as a more comprehensive life goal.) But if you want a gamification book with a fitness angle, this might be it.
One thing this book has going for it is its particular focus on fitness. For example, the game classes he describes are defined by physical traits. However, given how much it talks about travel and fulfilling work, it is positioning itself as more than a fitness book. (For example, "Level 50" is defined as a more comprehensive life goal.) But if you want a gamification book with a fitness angle, this might be it.
July 9, 2016
Okay, so, I'm not actually a nerd or geek - just a wannabe. This book captures the essence of the geek/nerd mindset, with it's references to video games, sci-fi characters, and fantasy figures. The author's encouragement to "get a life" isn't actually written but implies it, while translating it into an exciting adventure. As a Christian, I found several applications as well - after all, there are several Biblical references to extraordinary living (such as a relentless athlete and soldier with supernatural armor). Great read with plenty of quotes and references for further study.
April 5, 2016
Livro sobre gamificação de tarefas e de como transformar qualquer rotina em uma estrutura de games. Linguagem simples e bem direta, com muitas citações e influências de jogos, livros e filmes para temperar as explicações. Foi o primeiro livro que li sobre o assunto e recomendo se você tem interesse sobre gamificação.
O autor coloca várias sugestões de rotinas para viagens, aventuras, exercícios, hobbies e mais, além de ter criado toda uma comunidade voltada para isso (Nerdfitness).
O autor coloca várias sugestões de rotinas para viagens, aventuras, exercícios, hobbies e mais, além de ter criado toda uma comunidade voltada para isso (Nerdfitness).
February 6, 2017
This book changed my life!
About 40% into this book, I went onto Nerd Fitness and joined the academy. The day after, I went to the grocery store and bought some food to begin my new lifestyle. If anyone is struggling with exercising or just wanting to achieve your goals, please check out this book. If not, at least go on to the Nerd Fitness website and read some information. You won't regret it!
About 40% into this book, I went onto Nerd Fitness and joined the academy. The day after, I went to the grocery store and bought some food to begin my new lifestyle. If anyone is struggling with exercising or just wanting to achieve your goals, please check out this book. If not, at least go on to the Nerd Fitness website and read some information. You won't regret it!
February 22, 2016
A Summary Of Things Already Written
A good book that is full of not so common sense. It will try to sell you on using the tools of the Rebellion to level up your life. It is to your benefit to buy in.
A good book that is full of not so common sense. It will try to sell you on using the tools of the Rebellion to level up your life. It is to your benefit to buy in.
December 1, 2019
For a book that's under 300 pages, this one took me a long time to read.
While the ideas in the first few chapters hooked me, the execution of gamifying my life goals were presented in the broadest of terms with a focus on fitness and travel. Steve Kamb promotes his Nerd Fitness website throughout the book, which would be fine if he balanced that promotion with examples of people gamifying other aspects of their lives, or presenting specific gamified plans as examples.
I understand that to live my life to the fullest, I need to take care of myself, eat well, and exercise. I did check out Nerd Fitness and it's a solid website. No advertising or annoying pop ups. I'm using some of the free resources to help me vary up exercise routines and institute small changes over time.
I think my Nerd Fitness perusals were one reason why it took me so long to read this book. Probably for the first half of my reading, I was stopping to locate and read specific resources Kamb mentioned in the book. After the halfway mark, I was too frustrated with how broad his plan of action was. I reached a point where I just wanted the book to be done.
Kamb uses Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey as his outline for his life plan and his book, which is an awesome cool concept. In reality, though, reading about how one person leveled up his life created a repetitive pattern where the focus was on him getting fit, traveling more, and knowing when to take that leap and start his own business.
This book could have been 1000x more effective and engaging if he had multiple substantive examples of how different people had used his system to level up their lives. Don't just share with me your story. Give me numerous examples to truly inspire me. Surprise me.
On a token level, Kamb does share some success stories. At the end of many of the chapters, there's a Rebel Hero Spotlight featuring the story of someone from Nerd Fitness who has leveled up. Naturally, most of these stories focused on fitness, wellness, or health.
There was one person whose story resonated with me. A woman, who sounds like she must have had a truly awful job, was motivated enough by Nerd Fitness to apply to a teaching course where she received top grades resulting in a great teaching opportunity that clearly changed her life.
These spotlights, though, were 2-3 pages each and don't compare to the number of pages Kamb dedicated to his own story.
To me, if you're going to write a book with a subtitle "How to Unlock Adventure and Happiness...", then you should explain how to actually achieve that goal. I understand that every person's gamified plan of action will be different, so specifics could be hard to pin down. That's why I'd prefer to read about many different people employing these ideas. Not just the author's experience.
Are there any people who further customized Kamb's outline of steps to suit their situation? Is there any physically fit person who started using these ideas to level up some other aspect of his/her life? Who's tried this system and failed? Did they try again? What did they adjust? Those are stories I'd like to read.
While the ideas in the first few chapters hooked me, the execution of gamifying my life goals were presented in the broadest of terms with a focus on fitness and travel. Steve Kamb promotes his Nerd Fitness website throughout the book, which would be fine if he balanced that promotion with examples of people gamifying other aspects of their lives, or presenting specific gamified plans as examples.
I understand that to live my life to the fullest, I need to take care of myself, eat well, and exercise. I did check out Nerd Fitness and it's a solid website. No advertising or annoying pop ups. I'm using some of the free resources to help me vary up exercise routines and institute small changes over time.
I think my Nerd Fitness perusals were one reason why it took me so long to read this book. Probably for the first half of my reading, I was stopping to locate and read specific resources Kamb mentioned in the book. After the halfway mark, I was too frustrated with how broad his plan of action was. I reached a point where I just wanted the book to be done.
Kamb uses Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey as his outline for his life plan and his book, which is an awesome cool concept. In reality, though, reading about how one person leveled up his life created a repetitive pattern where the focus was on him getting fit, traveling more, and knowing when to take that leap and start his own business.
This book could have been 1000x more effective and engaging if he had multiple substantive examples of how different people had used his system to level up their lives. Don't just share with me your story. Give me numerous examples to truly inspire me. Surprise me.
On a token level, Kamb does share some success stories. At the end of many of the chapters, there's a Rebel Hero Spotlight featuring the story of someone from Nerd Fitness who has leveled up. Naturally, most of these stories focused on fitness, wellness, or health.
There was one person whose story resonated with me. A woman, who sounds like she must have had a truly awful job, was motivated enough by Nerd Fitness to apply to a teaching course where she received top grades resulting in a great teaching opportunity that clearly changed her life.
These spotlights, though, were 2-3 pages each and don't compare to the number of pages Kamb dedicated to his own story.
To me, if you're going to write a book with a subtitle "How to Unlock Adventure and Happiness...", then you should explain how to actually achieve that goal. I understand that every person's gamified plan of action will be different, so specifics could be hard to pin down. That's why I'd prefer to read about many different people employing these ideas. Not just the author's experience.
Are there any people who further customized Kamb's outline of steps to suit their situation? Is there any physically fit person who started using these ideas to level up some other aspect of his/her life? Who's tried this system and failed? Did they try again? What did they adjust? Those are stories I'd like to read.
February 21, 2020
I'm a Nerd Fitness devotee (that's the author's website/business), but this is less a book about fitness and more about thoughtfully designing your life to be whatever you want it to be. It's about how to think about your life and your time, and spend time on thing that really matter to you (whatever they may be), and less time wasted on things that neither are enjoyable nor enable you to enjoy yourself.
Near the end of the book, Steve writes "Want a recipe for success and happiness? Spend as much time as you can with the people you love, and put yourself in as many situations as possible with those people who enable you to look back and say, "Man, remember the time we ...; I can't believe that actually happened!" That's as good a central thesis for this book as any. And that's cool.
Near the end of the book, Steve writes "Want a recipe for success and happiness? Spend as much time as you can with the people you love, and put yourself in as many situations as possible with those people who enable you to look back and say, "Man, remember the time we ...; I can't believe that actually happened!" That's as good a central thesis for this book as any. And that's cool.
June 11, 2017
Do you want to change any aspect of your life? Lose weight? Travel more? Learn a new language? Are you a nerd or geek? If so this book is for you. The author has an amazing perspective on taking your big goals and breaking them up so you can get it done. I look forward to leveling up my life.
September 8, 2017
This book has been a great motivation, a great inspiration, a great push and a great friend of mine who challenges me to become more than I've ever been before. No matter how tired I am, I would at least read a few pages before going to bed, feeling so capable of anything and can't wait for tomorrow to come.
I'm not at all a gamer but the author speaks right to my heart. I can relate to almost every word he says. I'm pretty sure I will keep coming back from time to time.
Thanks for showing me how to live a life I always wanted to live but never get to.
I'm not at all a gamer but the author speaks right to my heart. I can relate to almost every word he says. I'm pretty sure I will keep coming back from time to time.
Thanks for showing me how to live a life I always wanted to live but never get to.
March 20, 2017
I do enjoy reading this book as it often talks to my heart. The only reason that I take awhile to finish this book because I don't want to let the excitement of reading it go away so fast. And today I think it's the right to finish it and I did. I didn't till this day that actually there are people out there whom would trying to accomplish thing and have the same kind of problem which i'm facing. It will take time for me to start taking action but I believe that by following Steve path may eventually leveling up my life. Thanks to Davuth that always introduces me good book except when it's not :)!
April 28, 2017
While I didn't relate completely to the video game metaphors, this book had a lot of great information and inspiration to kick-start some adventure planning in my life.
November 25, 2020
Kind of like a self-help book but for nerds and it's what makes this book original and fun. I personnally think that the useful advice could have fit in only one or two chapters but whatever, it's still fun to read in the bus or the metro :)
Key takeaway: live life like a game, set yourself levels to reach with a point system and reward yourself at every milestone.
Key takeaway: live life like a game, set yourself levels to reach with a point system and reward yourself at every milestone.
January 16, 2016
This book was freakin awesome! I love the idea of working all the elements that make video games so addictive into your life in a positive way. Steve clearly lays what it is about video games that keeps us coming back for more (clear challenges, incremental progress, immediate rewards, epic quests etc) and gives tips on how to create those things in your "real life" so that you are driven to "level up" in life, instead of in a game. It's a fascinating concept and I am really excited to implement it in my own life. Highly recommend, especially if you are a nerd and love games/movies/books etc. If a good story draws you in and motivates you to be better, this book will show you how to use that to your advantage and become a super-hero just like your favorite fictional character.
Favorite Quote:
"Happiness is a consequence of the things you do daily, not a reward for earning a certain amount of money or purchasing a certain number of things. Find time every day to work on things that make you feel alive, with people that you love, and take a moment to celebrate any victory, no matter how small - this will have you primed to rapidly advance in this Game of Life, and you'll have a blast along the way."
Favorite Quote:
"Happiness is a consequence of the things you do daily, not a reward for earning a certain amount of money or purchasing a certain number of things. Find time every day to work on things that make you feel alive, with people that you love, and take a moment to celebrate any victory, no matter how small - this will have you primed to rapidly advance in this Game of Life, and you'll have a blast along the way."
March 16, 2016
I have to say that I found the book enjoyable to read, and I've been a reader of nerd fitness for a couple of months now. I loved the bits on collecting underwear and not allowing other people to judge you for pursuing the dream in the way that you want to.
The problem is a lot of this content is available on the blog but in a different format here, which has its ups and downs. If you've never read the blog you'll love the book, but blog readers will still find something to love here. There's a lot of actionable advice and I really liked the parts where Steve alludes to building his business as I'm going through the same process of self-doubt and solopreneurship myself.
The other problem with covering so much content is that it gleans over some parts and doesn't cover them in a great amount of depth. For me at least, the Jason Bourne part on exercising was a little long and the Bruce Wayne metaphor was a little flat. What I did like were the Matrix metaphors and the many video game references (but of course, that's my personal taste talking).
Overall I would recommend this book to anyone seeking to level up their life professionally or socially. There's a lot of great advice here and Steve writes in a very relatable way.
The problem is a lot of this content is available on the blog but in a different format here, which has its ups and downs. If you've never read the blog you'll love the book, but blog readers will still find something to love here. There's a lot of actionable advice and I really liked the parts where Steve alludes to building his business as I'm going through the same process of self-doubt and solopreneurship myself.
The other problem with covering so much content is that it gleans over some parts and doesn't cover them in a great amount of depth. For me at least, the Jason Bourne part on exercising was a little long and the Bruce Wayne metaphor was a little flat. What I did like were the Matrix metaphors and the many video game references (but of course, that's my personal taste talking).
Overall I would recommend this book to anyone seeking to level up their life professionally or socially. There's a lot of great advice here and Steve writes in a very relatable way.
May 11, 2016
I really loved this book. It spoke to the nerd in me who loves the addictiveness of great RPGs. I find it easier to stick to growing the skills you want to develop by gamifying it. I absolutely love grinding a character to max stats in an RPG, and then going into beast mode for the rest of the game. I am already fit and go to the gym regularly, but I can gamify learning a new language, instrument, hobby, career advancement, public speaking, volunteering, traveling, and the list goes on. Almost everyone has gamed at one time with the addictive nature of phone games nowadays. We're always trying to unlock that next level or gain more stats to do more things. Taking small steps everyday can get you farther along than watching tv, playing video games, getting drunk regularly, or other time wasters that might apply as soon as you get off from work. If you are subscribed to geek culture and you want to become your own custom superhero and design your story, I overwhelmingly recommend this book.
June 24, 2016
I was intrigued by this book as a few people had recommended it to me. It's a self development book with a different approach to life...level up your life in the same way that you get to the next level in a video game.
I've never been one for video games but the author certainly had an addiction. I related more to the comparison of films such as The Matrix, Jason Bourne, I bought a zoo Etc.
One thing that did resonate well with me was the chapter on buying underpants. This had me laughing out loud in the car as I realized that I am often an underpants collector! (You have to read the book to understand what I'm talking about).
If you are the sort of person who likes a challenge, enjoys crossing things off lists and want to get more out of life then I'd recommend giving this book a read. It's not for everyone and please have an open mind, but the underlying message is loud and clear.
I've never been one for video games but the author certainly had an addiction. I related more to the comparison of films such as The Matrix, Jason Bourne, I bought a zoo Etc.
One thing that did resonate well with me was the chapter on buying underpants. This had me laughing out loud in the car as I realized that I am often an underpants collector! (You have to read the book to understand what I'm talking about).
If you are the sort of person who likes a challenge, enjoys crossing things off lists and want to get more out of life then I'd recommend giving this book a read. It's not for everyone and please have an open mind, but the underlying message is loud and clear.
February 15, 2016
This is, easiest, my most favourite motivational book I've ever read. I can relate to almost everything he said simply because he, too, is a nerd who spends hours upon hours playing games and watching movies. And he uses this concept of gamification to apply on his real life. How cool is that!! Living like a Batman? Jason Bourne? Harry Potter? Katniss Everdeen? All of sudden, the whole life living thing becomes so much fun and achievable. It's no longer like looking at the top of mountain and then give up. I'm a batman, so there's no mountain high enough. Right? :D... Without a doubt, it changes my whole perception of how living a life can be! I can't wait to see how my hero is like at level 50...
January 24, 2019
This book has some useful information. I was not really into the whole aspect of adding a fantasy element or creating a persona in order to pursue personal growth goals. I am not very responsive to this type of gamification in training in general. I felt that I had encountered a lot of the information about self improvement in other contexts that went deeper to explain them. Unlike many self help books this one did not seem to really dig deep in helping the reader identify the underlying reasons why they are seeking change, I find those deep motivations to be instrumental in sustaining longer term habit changes. Overall, this author's approach was a bit too superficial for me.
January 22, 2016
Love the Level Up
I've been a longtime reader of Nerd Fitness who was a little worried that the book would just be a reiteration of the philosophies that Kamb has been representing for years. Thankfully, there is some of the familiar and some of the new in there or I might have been disappointed. A great read I recommend for any nerd looking to make more of their lives.
I've been a longtime reader of Nerd Fitness who was a little worried that the book would just be a reiteration of the philosophies that Kamb has been representing for years. Thankfully, there is some of the familiar and some of the new in there or I might have been disappointed. A great read I recommend for any nerd looking to make more of their lives.
February 12, 2016
This was such an excellent read and exactly what this nerd needed. I love the concept of living your life like a video game. This book has a lot of fun ways to set your life up in that manner. Steve is a great guy and I am so grateful that my best friend told me about Nerd Fitness in the first place. Definitely recommend this book and this lifestyle.
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