This is part 4 of 4 in our Leveling Upwards series.
Do you ever feel like you accomplish something or meet a milestone only to find yourself with an overwhelming number of options and decisions waiting for you on the other side?
Welcome to the other side of the level up.
In many TTRPGs, “leveling up” is as much about decision-making as it is a reward. In Dungeons & Dragons, for example, each new level might expand your skills or spells available to you, improve the strength of your core abilities, force you to choose a new speciality, or step into a new character class altogether (almost like a career pivot).
Each level offers something different and, for some characters, certain levels offer larger breakthroughs than others. No level is the same, nor will every character make the same decisions at each level. The level itself is the reward and the question is how to “spend” that newly earned level.
When we ‘level up’ in our everyday life - whether that’s a promotion, career pivot, fitness goal accomplished, completion of another gardening season, or celebrating making another yearly trip around the sun - we face many of these same decision points.
If the level up is a doorway, the opportunity and decisions are what lies on the other side. And sometimes, if we’ve been waiting to “unlock” that door to the “next level,” those decisions can be hard to see at first.
Then BAM! Door swings open and we find ourselves swimming in the minutia and sheer newness of where we just arrived.
First of all, that feeling is totally normal. Second, that does NOT mean you aren’t ready for this next level. It simply means that you now have to put all that well-earned experience to use.
So, how do we take that step forward beyond the door? How do we interrupt the analysis paralysis that might keep us from moving forward?
Take a moment, breathe in deep, exhale and consider: Who do you want to become next?
What skills would they invest in?
What strengths do they rely on the most?
What challenges are they now ready to take on?
Where do they want to go next on their journey?
Anchoring in a vision of who we want to become can help us make decisions about where we are in the present. We can honor our future selves by making the decisions that bring them closer to our present.
That way, when we look back, we can say that was a “level up” well spent.
Knock, knock! Adventure calls!
Sincerely,
Autumn & Jerod