Life-Games
Two things in life make you feel alive: Growing and Giving. (Tony Robbins)
Fragments from imaginary dialogues
“What are life-games?”
“I think of my life as a game. I call it The Beautiful Game [<link; short read]. It’s a modular game made up of a myriad interlocking pieces – each piece a game.
I call the Beautiful Game and the games that make it up, life-games.”
“What are the most important life-games?”
“Growing and Giving.
The Beautiful Game is made up of two big games: The Inner Game and The Outer Game. The Inner Game is the Game of Growing; The Outer Game is the Game of Giving.
The Game of Growing is the game of becoming the best you can possibly be. It is made up of two games: The Game of Wisdom and The Game of Mastery.
The Game of Giving is the game of using your Gifts in greatest service to the world, of being an exceptional value provider – the highest expression of Love. Another name for it is The Game of Contribution.
All these are daily games. In their compounded effect, they shape the well-lived life.”
Integral Practice
How you do anything is how you do everything. (Josh Waitzkin)
Every moment of human life is a rep. (Frank Forenchich, Beautiful Practice)
Fragments from imaginary dialogues
“What is integral practice?”
“It is the practice that integrates all other practices. I call it the Beautiful Practice.
We have a tendency to fragment and compartmentalize our experience. Integral practice is the realization that it’s all interconnected.
Every little choice, every little decision, every little movement, every little interaction… every single thing you do and experience is the Beautiful Practice.”
Life Patterns
What did you do as a child that made the hours pass like minutes? Herein lies the key to your earthly pursuits. (Carl Jung)
Fragments from imaginary dialogues
“What current aspects of your life are an evolution of previous ones?”
“I’ve identified three major aspects:
Moving as a child
I love moving.
I used to love moving as a child. Running, jumping, climbing, creative physical challenges… I realize I was doing Parkour long before I knew Parkour existed. Discovering Parkour was actually a rediscovery. Parkour is an evolution of my playful childhood adventures, and something I see myself doing forever. As I like to say, ‘Traceur forever’.
Soul Quest: Parkour Mastery
Identity: Mover, Traceur, Athlete
Mantra: Move beautiful.
My gaming years
I love playing.
Video games have been an addiction for me for many years. Many people play games as a temporary distraction from the real world. For me, they were my reality. I lived in imaginary fantastic worlds, and the real world was a temporary distraction.
I left video games behind and finally discovered the game of my life: my own life. I call it The Beautiful Game [<link; medium read]. The game is a meta-game, which is made up of a myriad lower-order games. I engage in it as both a Player and a Designer.
Soul Quest: Playful Living – Life as Play
Identity: Dani, the Ever-Playful
Mantra: Play is destiny.
Thinking as passion
I love thinking.
I lived in my head most of my life. At some point, I jokingly remarked that if I were to visually represent what the world looked like for me, it would have been mostly empty space and curves of attractive women.
I’ve been playing with ideas for a long time – one of my favorite pastimes. I disregarded other areas of my life, but in the process I got pretty good at it.
The next level in my evolution as a Thinker is meta-thinking, a concept I created to describe the (practical) process of creating conceptual tools and deconstructing meaning. It also involves balancing Thinking with Awareness. I realized that in order to master Thinking I also need to master Non-Thinking, disengaging the mind.
Soul Quests: Thinking Mastery – becoming a Super Thinker; Artful Living – Life as Art
Identity: Thinker, Life-Artist, Explorer and Creator of Meaning
Mantra: Think beautiful.”
The Beautiful Practice 7
Fragments from imaginary dialogues
“What is the Beautiful Practice?”
The Practice that integrates all other practices.
Another name for it is the Beautiful Game [<link; medium read].”
Your One Word
There is One Word that defines who you are. One Word that connects all the things in your life that make you come alive. (Evan Carmichael)
Fragments from imaginary dialogues
“What is Your One Word?”
“It’s a beautiful idea I know from Evan Carmichael’s book with the same name. An extension of the One Thing mental model.
It’s basically the idea of condensing everything you stand for, your life philosophy and your Purpose – your reason for getting up in the morning, your Ikigai – into one word.
Evan makes the point that it’s not only useful for yourself – as a powerful mantra-word –, but also for communicating it to others. What’s inspiring for you can also inspire others.”
“What is your One Word?”
“My One Word is Beautify.
I’ve had clues about it in my own writings for some time.
For instance:
‘How can I know when I’m on the Beautiful Path?’
‘You can SEE the breathtaking Beauty in the fabric of the everyday.‘
Or:
‘Such a beautiful day.‘
‘Every day is beautiful, you just can’t see it all the time.‘
Or:
‘Why are you doing x?‘
‘I’m expressing myself.‘
‘You’re thinking small.
Express yourself though your LIVING.
Make your WHOLE LIFE a Creative Act,
Make your WHOLE LIFE a Work of Art.‘
Or:
‘EVERYTHING is the Beautiful Game, EVERY SINGLE MOMENT.‘
‘I know, but I keep forgetting it.‘
‘This too is part of the Game.‘
Evan’s book was the catalyst that brought them all together.
Beautify
Notice Beauty. It’s everywhere around you, if your Heart is open.
Appreciate Beauty. See every instance of Beauty for the Gift that it is.
Create Beauty. Always, in all ways.
Now, and forever.
Make your life / today / this moment a work of art. [Levels of Magnification]
Live a creative life. (Robert Rodriguez)
Maximize each moment’s creative potential. (Josh Waitzkin)
Make an art of everything you do.
Always do your best.
Make a game of everything you do.
…
The word means all those things, and many many more.
“
Conquering addiction
Fragments from imaginary dialogues
“I love Magic the Gathering. For many reasons. The problem is, for me, it has addictive qualities. It’s immensely engaging. When I start playing, I find it hard to stop. I can literally play it all day.
I’ve had several failed attempts to keep it in check in the past. Until now.”
“Isn’t it too early to tell?”
“I’m not basing my conclusion just on the recent successes, but on the system I have in place.
I like to think of Magic as two games in one. The actual game, and the meta-game of keeping it under control and looking for ways to transfer insights and concepts from Magic to the Meta-Game (with capital letters) that is my life – what I call The Beautiful Game [<link; medium read].”
“So meta-game is a higher order game, and Meta-Game (with capital letters) is the highest order game.”
“Precisely.
The system is part of the meta-game. Optimizing the system is also part of the meta-game.”
“What does the system look like?”
“It has several components.
Tracking
How long did I play today?
This is a key aspect. When playing Magic I have a tendency to lose track of time. Moreover, the impulse to play it activates repeatedly throughout the day. By tracking it, I can tell at a glance that I’ve reached the limit for the day.
Observation/Embodiment (Presence)
What is noteworthy?
How do I feel?
…
This has to do with noticing certain impulses / desires as they arise, and creating space [<link; short read] for decision-making. It also has to do with noticing cognitive biases and the fluctuations of my emotional state.
Introspection/Reflection
What’s the best decision? (pre-decision)
Was it the best decision? (post-decision)
Why did I make that decision?
What were the failure-points?
What can I learn from this?
…
This has to do with decision-analysis, identifying failure-points and behavioral-patterns, troubleshooting and optimizing, and inner exploration.
Buffering/Back-up (Preparation)
What are the red-flags?
What will I do when I fail?
…
This has to do with highlighting and preparing for conditions that are likely to lead to poor decision-making, and creating a protocol for dealing with failure.
Intention-Setting (Priming)
What’s the practice?
This is perhaps the most important of all. Having a system in place is useless if you don’t apply it. I noticed I have a tendency to forget, so I have all these written down and I read them right before starting to play.”
Creative Destiny 2
Fragments from imaginary dialogues
“Why are you doing x?“
“I’m expressing myself.“
“You’re thinking small.
Express yourself through your living.
Make your whole life a Creative Act,
Make your whole life a Work of Art.“
Dani Trusca 
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