The multiplayer game

Recently I have been reading the Almanack of Naval Ravikant. I have found myself disagreeing and questioning many points in this book. However, the concept of the multiplayer game is one that truly resonated with me. 

My understanding of the multiplayer game is the pursuit of success purely to compete with others. The single player game on the other hand is the pursuit of what makes you feel success, what gives you fulfilment and doesn’t require external validation. 

All my life I have participated in the multiplayer game. Studying to achieve top grades, not for the pursuit of knowledge but to be ranked highly among my peers. Applying to competitive universities, not because they offered something specific to me, but that employers and others would value me more or more recently, the pursuit of competitive consulting and banking jobs to compete with others over the most prestigious job and largest pay cheque. My happiness was highly dependent on peoples perceptions of me, and the titles and numbers on a pay cheque. 

It took me a while to realise that it should be me who sets the standards for what counts as success, and others’ opinions shouldn’t affect that. The decision to return to university while my friends excelled with their careers was particularly difficult as I felt I was moving backwards, but that was only as I measured myself relative to them. 

As I start a new term studying medicine,  I have learnt to enjoy the journey that I am on. Success should be measured by my own personal metric, and the enjoyment I have studying this degree should not depend on the perception of those around me. I aspire to succeed in my career, but that success should be measured against my own metric of success.

The lesson to be learnt is to focus on yourself and appreciate the successes in your life. The aggressive approach of attempting to outcompete others and receive validation leads us to undervalue the progress we make in our own lives.