If you knew you couldn't lose, would you play?

You know how people ask what would you do if you knew you couldn't fail - and then urge you to go do that? It's a nice hack to find out what you really want to do in life. It encourages your heart and soul to speak up and to create the life of your dreams.

But how boring would it be, knowing you couldn't fail? Think of a video game or a board game. If you knew you couldn't lose before you started playing, the game itself would not pose any challenge. Whatever you did would result in a win. Even if you didn't try at all. Even if you tried to lose.

Now, I'm not saying that life and board games are the same, although for all I know they could be. What I'm saying is that if you see life as a game, would playing it be any fun if there was no chance of losing? Where's the excitement, the uncertainty of outcome?

On the one hand, knowing you can't fail or lose can give you the encouragement you need to start that business, to write that book, to take the big chance. You can get excited about the future because it holds everything you always envisioned.

On the other hand, if you know exactly what's going to happen, working towards that ideal future can become a chore, just going through the motions without inspiration or true motivation to do it. Knowing you're far from the cliff removes the need to push against the wind like your life depended on it.

Perhaps the solution is to think you can't lose, but to also think that you can't know when or how you'll get to the finish line. Whether you choose the slowlane or the fastlane, whether you choose this path or that path, whether you win a quick game or a long game, all depends on you, your actions and your choices. And those are things you can control, things that make the game interesting, even if you knew the result beforehand.

Choose your strategy, and get playing.

RK